


A Thought Unchained

by AthenaScarlet



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Family, Alternate Universe - In Storybrooke | Cursed, Cursed Captain Hook | Killian Jones, F/M, Jones Brothers, True Love's Kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-18
Updated: 2016-06-30
Packaged: 2018-05-27 11:45:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 40,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6283243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AthenaScarlet/pseuds/AthenaScarlet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Saving Killian Jones from the Underworld had a major consequence, but Emma Swan can't remember what it was. In fact, Emma and Killian can't remember anything. With only some scribbled notes and a book of fairy tales, can she once again be the savior that Storybrooke needs? Captain Swan AU with Cursed!Killian and Cursed!Emma.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my new Cursed!Killian multi-chapter fic. I'm going to start posting it now as a special thanks to everyone who follows me on tumblr -- I just reached a big milestone for me! If you want, you can follow me there @athenascarlet. Hope you all enjoy this one!

"In here!" Emma screamed as she made an abrupt turn off of Main St. and into Granny's Diner.

The group followed her in with Hook slamming the door behind them all and locking it.

"I don't think that's going to help," David said somberly.

"We can make that decision when we know what's out there," Hook replied. "We just need to wait for Regina."

A silence fell over the group at Granny's as everyone tried to process what was going on - no one more than Emma. She had been home for less than twenty-four hours. She had found a way to get Hook home to Storybrooke, to bring his brother back with them, to leave Gold behind in the Underworld. Everything had finally worked their way. So what the hell was the purple smoke that has slowly started to roll out from the forest and into the streets of Storybrooke?

Emma's yellow car came to a screeching halt in front of the diner, and Regina quickly climbed out of the driver's side, hurrying towards the door that Robin unlocked for her.

"Were you able to find out anything?" he asked her.

"It's bad," Regina replied. "It's a curse from Gold. I think it was planted in the forest before we left for the Underworld, and when we came back without him…" Her voice trailed off as everyone put the pieces together. They came back without him, and he was going to punish them for it.

"So what does it do?" Emma asked.

"It will erase our memories."

"Again?" Mary Margaret said incredulously. "How many times can I have my memory erased?"

"Wait, you've had your memories erased before?" Liam asked.

Regina just rolled her eyes and took a deep breath. "The good news is that it's a curse similar to the dark curse that I created to bring all of us here."

"How the bloody hell is that good news?" Hook said bitterly.

"I know how it works," Regina explained. "We're going to stay in Storybrooke and our lives will be cursed. But if this curse is based on the one I created, I think I may be able to fix that. Or we may be able to fix it, Emma."

All eyes turned to Emma, who looked around to see her family and friends staring back at her. Her parents. Her son. The man she loved and his brother. They just got back, they finally got Liam to Storybrooke, and now all of it was crumbling around her.

Emma turned to stare at Regina. "What do I have to do?"

"Magic," she said with a small smile.

"What if it doesn't work?"

Regina's smile disappeared. "I think everything gets reset, but I'm not sure exactly how."

"You think?" Emma asked angrily. "You're not sure? You don't know where this new timeline would start or who will be here?"

"Everyone here will be here. I just don't know where in our timeline we'll all be."

Emma rubbed her face with her hand in frustration. All this work she had put into her life with her family and friends and Hook. And all of it could be gone. Again. This was ridiculous.

"Emma?"

She turned to see her pirate standing next to her, his hook around her forearm as he pulled himself closer to her.

"Do you remember what you said to me in this diner?" he quietly asked her.

She gave him a weak smile. "I've said many things to you in this diner."

"I was a villain, alone and unwanted, and you said to me, 'You can join us and be a part of something, or you can be alone.' I chose to be a part of something because of you."

"And look where it led you," she said bitterly. "You're about to get to have your memory erased. Again."

He pulled himself closer as he looked down on her with those blue eyes that always melted her heart. "It led me to you, and I will always choose you."

She couldn't help but loop her arms around his neck and pull him closer. Whenever things would go wrong, whenever she felt adrift, Hook was the one who would pull her back and anchor her. He believed in her even when she didn't believe in herself. Hell, he meant so much to her that she risked going to the Underworld to bring him back, and to get the brother she knew he loved so deeply.

Emma pulled away and turned her head, too afraid to look him in the eyes. That's when she noticed one of Granny's notepads for orders on the counter, a pen lying on top of it. She quickly grabbed it and started scribbling on the paper.

"I belong in Storybrooke/  
My parents are Mary Margaret and David/  
Henry is my son/  
Kiss him, break curse"

She ripped the page off the pad and stuffed it in the pocket of her red leather coat. Then she started writing on another sheet.

"I love Killian Jones"

She tore that from the top half of the page, stuffed it into the same pocket as the other note, and then quickly wrote something on the second half of the paper. Dropping the pen, she walked over to Hook and yanked open his motorcycle jacket, stuffing the paper in the inside pocket of the coat.

"What is this?" he asked her.

"For later."

She stood on her toes and gave him a quick passionate kiss, telling him everything she couldn't put into words. Then she turned and said goodbye to her parents and friends.

"You can do this, mom," Henry said as he hugged her tight.

"Emma and I will always protect you, Henry," Regina said from beside them.

"I know."

He gave his other mother a kiss and stepped away from them.

"You ready?" Regina asked.

"Let's go."

The women stepped out in the street, leaving the group behind in the diner. The town was deserted, Main St. was empty, and a purple cloud from the forest slowly rolled towards them.

"What's taking so long?" Emma asked. "I thought curses went faster than this."

Regina smiled bitterly. "This is what Rumplestiltskin does. Why make it quick and easy when you can torture your prey?"

"Wonderful," she replied. "So what do I have to do?"

"Just think positive thoughts."

"Seriously?" Emma said sarcastically.

"Good magic can neutralize the cloud, Emma. That's all we need. Think about the people you love and we can beat this."

Emma turned to see the face of everyone in Granny's staring out at them - everyone except for Hook. He was staring down at a piece of paper in his hands that she immediately recognized as the paper she had scrawled her note on before giving it to him. She watched him carefully fold it up and put it back in his pocket before looking up at her, a smile on his face as he stared out at her.

"The people I love?" Emma said. "I can do that."

She turned to see the cloud getting closer, the air around them crackling, the wind starting to pick up.

"Just aim your magic towards the cloud!"

Regina held her hands up and let loose a stream of magic towards the purple smoke only feet away from them. Emma followed her lead, he hands reaching up as she channeled the power in her body towards the cloud. But her magic didn't seem to be powerful enough.

"It's not working, Regina!" she yelled as the mist started to lick at her heels.

"Keep trying!" Regina screamed back. "Remember your family and stay positive!"

Emma did as she was told, pouring all her energy into her magic. But the cloud didn't stop. It began to envelope her, pull at her arms and legs, drain her of her magic. She tried desperately to stay focused, desperately to put every bit of strength she had into stopping the curse. If she could just hold on a little longer.

And then she forgot it all.


	2. Chapter 2

Emma let out a low moan and stretched her limbs as the sun filtered through the bars of her jail cell.

Jail cell? Dammit.

She couldn't remember much of what happened last night and this splitting headache wasn't helping. Whatever she had done, it couldn't have been good.

She opened her eyes more and started looking around. This was definitely not a jail in Boston. She recognized those - at least some of them - but that was because of her work on the other side of the bars. This place, on the other hand, seemed quaint and sweet and small town.

Then she remembered. She had celebrated her birthday the night before by nabbing a bail jumper and then drove up to Maine to return her son to his adoptive mother. And if all that wasn't bad enough, she crashed her car on the way out of town to avoid a wolf in the road.

Yea, it was definitely not a happy birthday. She didn't even get to eat her cupcake.

And this headache wasn't being helped by someone whistling in the cell next to her. It was too early for all of this. She slowly pulled herself up and looked over at a man sitting on the cot in the cell next to her.

"Hello, lass!"

"Hey."

"I take it you're not a morning person?" he asked with a hint of a British accent.

She turned and gave him a sarcastic look in response, and her gaze lingered on the man across from her. He had blue eyes that stood out against his dark hair and stubble, and an unbuttoned black shirt that gave her a good look at the hair on his chest. The rest of his outfit almost looked like a costume: leather pants and vest, black boots, guyliner - although it was a little smugged. He stood up and took a step closer to the bars separating their cells, his black leather coat swaying behind him.

"So just who exactly are you?" he said as he looked over at her. He was trying to be smooth and sexy, but was only coming across as a jackass.

"Wouldn't you like to you," she replied bitterly.

"Perhaps I would."

His words came out more sincere than she expected but really, he was standing there in head-to-foot leather. How sincere could he be?

"Leave the woman alone," came a voice from the sheriff's office as two men came walking up to the cells.

"Oh look, lass. It's Sheriff David and my dear brother Liam Jones, here to save us!"

"Shut up, little brother."

"Younger brother," the man replied bitterly.

"Alright, Killian. That's enough," the sheriff said as he unlocked the man's cell. "I'm going to let you out, but you need to behave. Put on a smile and stay out of trouble."

Killian gave him a cheerfully sarcastic smile and swaggered out of his cell. Then he turned back to Emma. "Let me know if you need me to break you out, love."

Emma smiled back at him as his brother gave him a shove to get him out of the station. She wouldn't mind staying in this small town if all the men here looked like those Jones brothers. Unfortunately, she had more pressing issues than cultivating new crushes.

Like Sheriff David.

"So I guess Regina's drinks are a little stronger than you thought," he said as he sauntered over to her cell.

"I wasn't drunk," she explained. "There was a wolf standing in the middle of the road."

"A wolf? Right."

"Emma!"

She and the sheriff both turned to see a woman walking in with a black dress and high-heeled shoes. Regina. Wonderful. Emma definitely hadn't made a good impression on Henry's adoptive adoptive mother last night, who also happened to be the mayor. And now here she was sitting in a jail cell in the mayor's town.

"What is she doing in there?" Regina sternly asked David.

"She crashed her car on the way out of town. I think she was drunk from your cider."

Regina looked confused as her eyes moved from David to Emma and back again. "What are you talking about?"

"Last night. After she left you and Henry, she tried to go back to Boston." He turned to Emma. "It was Boston, right?"

"Right."

David smiled and looked back at Regina. "As she was going back to Boston, she swerved and hit the sign on the way out of town."

Regina staggered back with a look of shock, leaning against the desk behind her to try and get her bearings. Emma could see her face losing its color as she tried to process this news.

"Last night?" she asked quietly as she finally turned her head back to Emma. "You came to Storybrooke to return Henry last night?"

"Yea."

Emma's eyes narrowed as she looked back at the mayor. Something was up, and she couldn't quite figure out what exactly it was. Why would Regina act surprised about Emma being at her house last night? It's not like she snuck Henry in through his bedroom window. She had introduced herself to Regina in the front yard.

"Ms. Mills?"

Both women were pulled out of their thoughts by David's voice.

"What?"

"I asked you what you wanted me to do with Ms. Swan?"

Regina stood and quickly ran her hand over her dress to smooth it down. "You can let her go. It's just a sign after all, isn't it?"

David looked surprised. "Are you sure?"

Regina turned and gave him a tight smile. "Yes, of course. Maybe point her in the direction of Granny's so she can get some breakfast."

"Uh, OK," David replied slowly.

"And Ms. Swan? This is my card." Regina pulled a business card out of her small purse and held it up before putting it down on the closest desk. "I'll be at my office today so why don't you stop by when you have some time and we can chat about Henry."

"Sure?"

Regina hesitated as she looked at both of them, then nodded and quickly walked out the door.

David shook his head and reached for the keys on his belt. "I don't know what you said to her last night, but it must've been quite the conversation."

He fumbled with his keys before finding the one for her cell and opened the door for her.

"Why do you say that?"

"I've never seen her treat anyone that nice."

She let out a sarcastic laugh as she walked out of the cell. "That was nice?"

David shut the door behind her with a loud clang. "That was nice."

He looked up and smiled at her, and Emma could feel her chest tighten as if there was something she remembered about David, something warm and calming. It was ridiculous really. She had met the man last night when she dropped Henry off at home. There wasn't any reason for her to feel like she knew him. It was probably just small-town friendliness. Poor guy would never last a day on the Boston PD with that kind of personality.

Emma grabbed the card Regina had left on the desk with its mayoral seal right on the top of it.

"So Regina mentioned some place called Granny's."

David smiled. "Out the front door," he said, pointing to the entrance she forgot she came in last night. "Make a left and then another left when you get to Main St."

"Main St.? Sounds quaint."

"And a few doors down from Granny's is the auto body shop. They have your car."

"Right."

She took a deep breath and shoved Regina's card in her pocket before walking towards the door.

"Try not to hit any more signs if you could, Emma!" the sheriff yelled back at her.

"Sure thing, sheriff," she said quietly.

Emma pushed through the door and headed towards Main St. Sure enough, this place was packed with small-town charm. It's like whoever founded the town tried to make it some New England fairy tale. Cute shops and small businesses lined the street on both sides. Parents were walking on the sidewalk with their kids. The auto body shop was in fact just down the street.

Emma could only imagine how the repair on her car would go. On the plus side, it would probably be cheaper than Boston. On the minus side, she highly doubted they had any parts for her old Beetle so she could be stuck in this town for a bit as she waited for them to get shipped here.

She followed a few people who were heading into a courtyard with a sign for Granny's Diner hanging over it and followed them in. The diner's interior matched the town's exterior. Booths on one wall, a counter along the other with the smell of a fresh pot of black coffee brewing.

She took a seat on one of the stools and ordered a hot chocolate with whipped cream and cinnamon from the waitress in the red t-shirt and red leggings.

"Well, well, well. Look who it is, Liam."

Emma turned to see the blue-eyed man with leather and guyliner staring back at her. "You again?"

"Me again," he said as he walked over and held his hand out to her. "My manners were lacking this morning. I'm Killian Jones. And you are?"

She just stared at his hand before reaching for her hot chocolate. "Emma."

"Just Emma?"

She gave him a teasing sneer. She learned a long time ago that the less information she gave people - especially men - the better. "I'm just Emma."

He pulled his hand back, but his gaze was still on her, a bemused smile on his face as he looked at her. "Well, just Emma," he said wistfully. "It's a beautiful name for a beautiful woman."

Liam pulled on the sleeve of his brother's long leather coat. "Sit down, little brother, and leave the woman in peace."

"Younger brother," Killian muttered as he took his place two seats down from her at the counter. "And can I get a coffee, Ruby?" he asked the waitress.

"Of course." She leaned over to kiss Liam. "Coffee?" she asked.

"Yes, please." Liam's voice dropped to a low teasing tone. "And I'm sure you know what else I like."

Ruby smiled and gave them two coffee while Killian couldn't help but roll his eyes at the whole thing going on between his brother and the waitress.

Emma looked him over again - she couldn't help it - before turning to stare at her hot chocolate to try to process this entire morning. It had all been a bit strange. First, there was the sense of deja vu that seemed to be creeping at the outer edges of her mind. It was like she had been here before maybe or knew these people, but she just couldn't exactly place them. Second was the town itself. It was just so sweet and quaint and small, and yet it felt comfortable to Emma. She didn't feel out of place sitting at this diner or walking down Main St. even though she totally considered herself a city girl. What was it about this place?

And what was it about Regina? Emma had honed a skill over many years of being in foster care and then finding bail jumpers. She considered it a super power of hers in fact. She could tell when someone was lying, and Regina was definitely lying this morning. There was something unexpected about the whole situation at the sheriff's station - at least unexpected for Regina. It was more than just seeing Emma behind bars that surprised her. It was the whole thing with Henry. Did Regina not remember Emma dropping him off the night before? That couldn't have been it. But there was just something odd going on. Emma was starting to think that maybe she needed to stay in town a little longer than she planned to figure it all out, if only for Henry's sake. She wasn't really his mother, but he brought her here and she did feel a sense of responsibility for him. She gave him up to give him his best chance in life, and she just wanted to make sure that her wish was being fulfilled.

Ruby the waitress gave Emma her plate of scrambled eggs and toast. Pretty basic, but Emma didn't feel like going fancy this morning.

"Looks like we ordered the same thing, Emma," Killian said from his perch near her. "It must be true love."

Emma's head snapped up. True love with the man she met this morning in jail? And yet, when he said it to her, it just sounded so right. Her true love was Killian Jones. Emma shook her head to get rid of that ridiculous thought. Her brain must've really been scrambled from the accident the night before.

"You OK there, lass?"

"Yea, I'm fine," Emma said as she tried to quickly recover by staring down at her eggs. She took a bite and then looked back at her breakfast companions. "So Liam, why did you have to collect your little brother from jail this morning?"

Killian scowled at the moniker while Liam gave her the biggest smile she had seen from him all morning. "Public intoxication."

"David has to find something to justify his sheriff's duties so he once again threw me in the brig for no reason."

"The brig?"

"Aye," he replied glumly. "All I was doing was walking down the street minding my own business, and David told me to get in the car and sleep it off at the station."

"He was just watching out for you, Killian," he brother explained. "Besides, you should be happy about it. Most nights, you don't get to share your cell with a gorgeous woman."

The Jones brothers both turned their heads towards Emma and gave her matching smiles. "Just what exactly were you in there for anyway, lass?" Killian asked.

"I hit the 'Welcome to Storybrooke' sign with my car."

Liam shook his head while Killian laughed loudly. "Were we not welcoming enough for you?"

Emma took a bite of her eggs before turning to stare at the younger Jones brother. "If you must know, I was trying to leave, but I swerved to avoid a wolf in the middle of the road."

"Really?" he replied sarcastically. "The real question is how much did you have to drink before then?"

Emma's hand tightened on her fork. "I wasn't drunk," she muttered as she turned to shovel more eggs in her mouth.

The trio ate their breakfast in silence for a few minutes as Ruby came to fill up their coffee cups - giving Liam an extra smile in the process - and gave Emma another cup of hot chocolate.

"Oh wait!" The waitress ducked back to the kitchen and came out with a small white container in her hand. "I'll just leave this here for you," she said as she placed the cinnamon in front of Emma.

Emma smiled and shook some on top of her whipped cream. Nothing like a good cup of hot chocolate to soothe the soul.

"So," she said, turning back to Killian's spot at the counter. "What's with the leather duster thing?"

"I'm a pirate," he replied with a big cheesy grin.

"A pirate?"

"We have dinner parties on our ship at night. It's _very_ romantic," he said as he openly leered at her. "I dress up as a pirate while Liam and Ruby serve dinner."

"And you're still dressed like that this morning because why?"

Killian gave her a big cheshire grin. "I slept next to you last night, lass. I think you can figure it out."

Emma could feel her cheeks get warm and quickly looked down at her plate to compose herself again.

"So where's your eye patch and peg leg?"

"Not that kind of pirate."

His brother laughed. "Actually, he's that kind of pirate. He has a hook."

Emma couldn't help but smile at him. "You're Captain Hook?"

"Aye."

She laughed out loud at his response. "Aye? Really?"

Killian just shrugged. "It's part of my act."

"So what else do you wear besides the hook to complete your act? A waxed mustache and a perm?"

"I take it from your tone that you think perms are bad," he replied. "And no, this is what you get."

"Yep, this whole horrible mess," his brother said teasingly from beside him. "Particularly this mess of a face."

Killian scowled, and Emma felt something pull at her like she had to defend him. "I don't know. He actually looks kind of attractive."

Killian's gloomy look immediately disappeared and was replaced by a genuine smile towards Emma. "Thank you."

"Although to be fair," she quickly added, "I was on a date last night with a married man and had to put him in handcuffs. So I'm obviously not the best judge of what's attractive."

The Jones brothers both stared at her with slack jaws. She could tell their brains - especially Killian's - were thinking about Emma and handcuffs. "Um, do you have a problem with my job as a bail bondswoman?"

"No, no," Killian stammered.

"Not at all," Liam said. "It's just uh…" His eyes shifted quickly from Emma to Killian and back again. "We uh… have never met a woman who arrests bail jumpers."

"Sure, that's exactly it," the younger Jones brother replied. "It had nothing to do with imaging you putting me in cuffs."

Liam's hand immediately went to his face, trying to cover up his embarrassment, although Emma wasn't sure if he was embarrassed because he was thinking about her with cuffs or embarrassed that his brother Killian had actually said what he was thinking.

Liam took a deep breath and reached for his wallet. "We should probably leave this lovely woman alone before we make even bigger fools of ourselves."

"Speak for yourself, brother," Killian replied. "I have a feeling I made quite the impression on her."

"Really?" Emma said sarcastically.

"Admit it, lass. You think I'm a dashing rapscallion."

"More like a scoundrel."

Killian planted his tongue firmly in his cheek, sizing up this surprising woman in front of him. Liam, however, was just shaking his head.

"You had to encourage the pirate thing, didn't you?"

"I did," she said sweetly.

Liam stood up and put his hand on his brother's shoulder. "Let's go, _scoundrel_."

Killian followed his brother's lead before leaning close to Emma. "I hope you don't leave town without saying goodbye, Emma," he said with a smile. "I wouldn't want you to get in another accident, and perhaps I could persuade you to stay."

"We'll see," she replied.

He gently grabbed her hand and gave it a chaste kiss that sent shivers up Emma's spine.

"Killian!" Liam yelled from the doorway of the diner.

He looked up at her with his big blue eyes and winked at her. "Until we meet again."

Emma watched him leave, his stupid long coat swaying seductively behind him. She just needed to get her car fixed and make sure Henry was going to be OK. That's it. There was nothing else that would ever make her want to stay in this boring small town. Nothing. Not even a dashing man who liked to dress up in some leather pirate outfit.

At least that's what she was going to tell herself. Whether it was actually true was a different matter.


	3. Chapter 3

Unfortunately, Emma's meeting at the auto body shop was exactly as she had suspected. It was going to take them two weeks to fix her beloved car to get her back home.

Her next mission was to find a place to stay. Ruby had introduced her to her grandmother, who ran the diner as well as a local bed and breakfast. Emma found the B&B to be quaint with flowered wallpaper and antique furniture, and her room was well appointed with a small fireplace and a big bed. The bathroom needed a little updating, but it was functional enough for Emma to get a shower finally. Sleeping in the sheriff's station had made her feel kind of dirty even though it was the cleanest holding cell she had ever seen.

It was also the best looking. She hated herself for admitting it, but Killian Jones had been quite the attractive man to wake up next to this morning. Sort of. But considering how long Emma had been focused on her job and being alone, it was nice to genuinely find a man attractive.

If only he hadn't opened his mouth. For as handsome as he was, he was quite the overly obnoxious flirt. Was flirt even the right word for it? He was irritating. Emma didn't mind the banter - she could hold her own with guys like that any day of the week. But why couldn't he just have stayed a pretty face? Why did he have to speak?

Emma dug into her duffel bag, thankful that she always had some extra clothes and a toothbrush in her car for whatever response her job threw at her. She threw on a basic white t-shirt with her jeans and headed to the mayor's office, wondering what Regina would have waiting for her this time. Regina had lied to Emma this morning, but she wasn't sure what the mayor was hiding. She shouldn't have been too worried. She could sometimes tell the degree to which someone was lying, and Regina wasn't trying to cover up much - but it was still something.

She took awhile to get to the office, taking the long way around to check out Storybrooke a little more. She and Henry had arrived in the middle of the night, and the place looked much different with the sun up. Cheerful, warm, pleasant. The city hall was the same way - a two-story yellow building with white columns out front. Seriously, Emma was starting to get worried that she had crashed her car in Mayberry.

But then she got to Regina's office. For as much as the outside was warm and inviting and pleasant, Regina's style for the mayor's office seemed to skew more regal and modern. It was alot of black and white for one room with some sort of forest-inspired graphic wallpaper and a black chandelier about her conference table.

"Emma!" Regina said as she stepped from around her desk. "Thanks for stopping by. Would you like some coffee or something else to drink?"

"No, thank you."

"Why don't you come sit and we can talk a bit?"

Emma apprehensively did as she was asked with Regina taking a seat across from her on some sofas arranged at one end of the room.

"So I wanted to finish our conversation from this morning."

Emma shifted uncomfortably. "You mean, the one when I was in jail?"

Regina gave her a small smile. "I talked to David, and he's not going to press charges. He said you swerved to avoid a wolf in the road, and while those are quite uncommon in this area, I really think your crash was simply an accident that couldn't be avoided."

"OK."

Emma looked at the woman across from her who was taking a sip of coffee while looking out the window.

"Besides, I don't think it would be in Henry's best interest to put you through all that now that he finally got you here."

Emma nodded. The whole reason she gave Henry up for adoption was so he could grow up in a place like that with a woman who, while a bit icy, seemed to care about Henry and making sure he had a life Emma never could. It probably was just as confusing for her to have Henry's birth mother in town as it was for Emma to be here in the first place.

"So do you plan to stay in town for awhile now?" Regina asked.

Emma shrugged. "Not too long. It's going to take a few weeks for them to fix my car, so I'll be gone sometime after that."

Regina gave her a tight smile. "I don't want to tell you what to do, Ms. Swan, but now that Henry has found you, I wonder if you would consider staying a little longer. For Henry's sake, of course."

"For Henry, I would consider it," she replied.

Regina's smile grew wider, and Emma wondered just what exactly was going on with this woman. After their drink last night, Emma thought it was clear that neither woman wanted to be around the other one for too much time. It was strange to see how things had changed so quickly overnight, and Emma was worried she may be misreading this whole situation.

"I think he would like that," Regina said. "In the meantime, I actually have some last-minute meetings this afternoon. Perhaps you would like to pick Henry up from school and take him to his sailing lesson this afternoon."

"Sailing?"

"I don't know why, but he likes the water. So I let him take lessons," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Besides, it's good for him. He's gained a boost of confidence from working with Liam."

Liam? As in Liam Jones? Emma wasn't going to ask for clarification. It would just open her up to meddling from Regina, and she did not need to rehash the circumstances of her first meeting with Liam - or his more troublesome brother.

Instead, Emma simply nodded as Regina wrote down some instructions on how to get to Henry's school from the mayor's office. "He knows the way to the marina from there," Regina explained. She handed the instructions to Emma with a smile and wished her a good day. "Call if you need anything!"

"Sure," Emma replied quietly as she folded the paper and stuffed it in her coat pocket.

As Emma walked out of the building to pick up Henry, something felt weird. Something was strange about all of this really, and she was frustrated that she still hadn't been able to figure out exactly what it was.

But she was going to figure it out, and she was going to figure it out before she left Storybrooke. She couldn't leave Henry here with any doubt in her mind that he was perfectly safe.

xxx xxx xxx

Emma stood at the bottom of the stairs at the school waiting for Henry, who came bounding towards her.

"Mrs. Nolan said you would be here waiting for me!" he said, launching himself towards Emma and giving her a big bear hug.

Emma hugged him back, surprised by how tall he was. She remembered him being a bit shorter the night before when he showed up on her doorstep for some reason. But then of course, what did she really know about the son she had given up 10 years ago who had found her last night?

"Hey, kid," she said, wrapping her arms around Henry. She couldn't remember the last time someone gave her a hug, so there wasn't much to compare it to, but this was easily the best hug she had ever received.

He finally let go and looked up at her with a smile. "Did Regina tell you about my sailing today?"

"You mean your mom?" Emma asked.

"Yea, I just didn't want to make it confusing," Henry said matter-of-factly. "You know, now that you're here."

"It's not confusing, Henry," she said quietly as they began to walk towards the marina. "Besides, she's your mother. I'm just here visiting."

"But you're my mom too."

Emma sighed and looked aimlessly down the street. "It's not the same thing, Henry."

"Why not?"

"It's just not," she said before quickly changing the subject. "So, what did you do at school today?"

Henry's face lit up as he began to talk to Emma about his day - who he ate lunch with, what they learned in class, his latest project for Mrs. Nolan.

"Oh, and she was really nice to me too. She said since I like to read so much, she wanted to give me a book she found that I would like."

"A book, huh? What kind?" Emma asked.

"It looks like it's a bunch of fairy tales, but I haven't had a chance to start it yet."

Fairy tales? Once again, Emma felt like she was having a weird sense of deja vu that she couldn't quite place. It was like she could imagine the book in her mind - brown leather binding with the words "Once Upon a Time" printed on it in gold lettering. It must've been something she saw in the window of that antique store near her place in Boston or something.

The thought was quickly pushed out of her mind as they got closer to the marina. Rounding the corner of a building towards the harbor, Emma saw the tall masts of a large ship looming over the pier. It looked like an older ship - like centuries older - and Emma could see the rigging and ropes that extended down towards the deck of the ship.

"Isn't it cool?" Henry said next to her in awe.

"It actually is," she replied quietly.

"Come on!" he said as he pulled on the sleeve of her red leather jacket. "You have to meet my teachers."

She gave him a skeptical look as she tried to keep up with him. "You're learning how to sail that?"

"No!" he said incredulously. "That's the Jolly Roger. She stays in port. But there's a smaller boat that I should be able to help with in the spring when it's warmer."

"Because that makes it all better," Emma murmured.

Henry bounded up the gangplank towards the deck of the ship with Emma in tow, trying hard to keep her cool before she met the Jones brothers again. This was becoming a habit and one she didn't want to repeat - well, if she didn't think about the blue eyes that stared at her over her scrambled eggs and hot chocolate this morning.

"Hey, guys!" Henry cheerfully said as he stepped on the boat.

"Henry!" Killian shouted in his now familiar British accent.

"Good to see you, deckhand," Liam said. "And who is this with…"

His voice trailed off as the Jones brothers stared at the blonde who had followed Henry onto their ship.

"You guys, this is my mom, Emma Swan," Henry said proudly. "Well, my birth mom," he added quickly. "Emma, this is the captain, Liam Jones, and his brother, Killian."

Liam's eyes quickly flashed from Henry back to her before he extended a hand towards her. "Emma, right," he said. "We met at the diner this morning, didn't we?"

Emma shook his hand, thankful that he didn't feel the need to go into their actual first meeting in front of her newly discovered son. "Right, the diner. Nice to see you again."

"You remember my brother, Killian."

Emma turned to see Killian standing in front of her with a sarcastic sneer on his face. His blue eyes were still piercing, but he had ditched the leather outfit for a more subdued pair of black jeans and a grey Henley.

"Ms. Swan," he said, putting an extra emphasis on her last name. "It's nice to see you again."

"Um, yea, you too."

She turned back to Henry and gave him a smile. "So are you all set? I was going to head out and Regina - I mean, your mom said she would pick you up. Is that OK?"

"You're not leaving town, are you?" Henry asked with disappointment.

"Oh no," she said. "No no. I have a room at Granny's place so I was going to head back. I need to, um, get some work done."

Henry smiled and gave her a hug. "I'm glad you'll be around," he said before quickly letting go to follow Liam to the back of the ship as the captain explained the navigation terms Henry was going to learn today.

"Ms. Swan."

Emma jumped as she heard her name muttered by someone close to her ear. "I'm going to break your arm the next time you surprise me like that."

She turned to see Killian standing there, his hands up in surrender. "I actually believe you," he said with a smile. "Although I'm assuming that's just part of your job."

"Just because I'm off the clock doesn't mean I forget my training."

"Of course, my mistake," he said in a tone that Emma couldn't decide was mocking or apologetic - or a little of both. "So you're Henry's mother?"

"Birth mother," she said curtly.

"Right," he replied. "And you have a last name?"

Emma turned and glared at him. "Still doesn't mean you need to remember it."

He gave her a tight smile and took a step closer. "You are quite a tough nut to crack, aren't you, lass?"

Emma just turned to look at Henry, ignoring the egotistical fake pirate to focus on her very real son in front of her. But the brush off didn't seem to deter Killian.

"So, you'll be staying at least a few more days in Storybrooke?" he asked.

"Two weeks. My car needs to be repaired before I can go."

"So where are you staying?"

Emma waved her hand flippantly towards town. "Granny's bed and breakfast over there."

"Ah, yes. The fine establishment of Liam's girlfriend's grandmother," he said with an extra flourish of his British accent. "Well, like I said this morning, please don't check out of Granny's and leave town until you've given me a chance to fight for you to stay, especially considering I'm not the only one who will be disappointed if you go."

Emma looked over at Henry, who was deep in nautical conversation with Liam. "Could I tell you something about me, Killian?"

His eyes flickered with surprise for just a moment before he gave her a warm smile. She could tell he really wanted that one piece of insight into her character, that one nut to crack. "You can tell me anything, Swan."

She turned to him and put her hands on her hips in defiance. "My parents abandoned me, and I've been alone all my life. I'm not about to start depending on other people to help me make my decisions."

Killian's warm smile faltered, and Emma thought she saw just a moment of realization behind his eyes, making her think that perhaps he understood what it was like to be abandoned by people who were supposed to love you. Her instinct of knowing when people were lying told her that while Killian tended to hide behind his pompous facade, there was something very true and real deep beneath his superficial layers.

But then it disappeared just as quickly as it had been there.

"Right," he said quietly as he took two steps back from her. "Well, it was nice to see you again, Ms. Swan. We'll make sure Henry gets home safe."

"Yea, thanks."

Killian nodded his head and watched her walk towards the gangway. Maybe she was a bit too harsh. Maybe she had dumped a bit too much of her life on him at once. Maybe he wasn't the scoundrel she thought he was. But when she took a look back to give him a quick smile or even an apology, he wasn't there. She turned to see him already at the back of the boat having a moment with his brother and her son.

She would have to remember something the next time she saw him. Killian Jones was not what he seemed.


	4. Chapter 4

When Emma first crashed her car in Storybrooke, she couldn't wait to get it fixed so she could leave. But two weeks later, she was dreading the idea of going away.

She would tell herself it was just because of her relationship with Henry, but she knew it was more than that. A few days after she got to Storybrooke, she was bored and came up with a crazy idea. She went to the sheriff's station and offered to help David out - you know, just as a favor to make up for him having to incarcerate her for a night. And she did have law enforcement experience. Sort of. But as she went out on patrols with David and helped around the station, she started to really like it. It felt good to be there.

That experience led to the next crazy thing she did a week later. She started looking for a place to live in a small town in Maine. Regina had surprisingly seemed encouraging of the idea.

"I hope you understand that Henry is my son, and I'm his mother," the mayor said when Emma originally told her about the plan. "But I think he would benefit from having you in town, and it would be nice to have someone else here to support him."

And so for the past week, she had developed a routine. Start off with breakfast at Granny's while she looked through the classified ads for an apartment. Head over to the sheriff's station and help David out with patrols or paperwork. Pick up Henry from school and have him give her a tour of something in town. He took her to the library twice last week and wandered the stacks while she talked to a nice librarian named Belle.

There were also the sailing lessons twice a week with the Jones boys. Emma loved seeing Henry get so excited as they walked down to the docks, and she would hang back a bit while he bounded his way up the gangplank to the deck of the Jolly Roger.

But last time, the two of them met the Joneses by Liam's modern sailboat, the Jewel of the Realm, and even Emma pitched in as they prepared the boat to be dry docked for the winter. It was getting colder on the water and as Liam had explained it, the boat couldn't handle the harbor's ice the same way the Jolly could. And so there she was, storing sails and packing up the galley kitchen's cupboards with Killian next to her.

For as pompous as he was when she first met him, Killian had definitely toned down his bombastic personality for something a little more calm. Still cheeky, of course, and his words would still drip of innuendo, but there was also those small moments when he would say something about Liam's sailing skills or how proud he was of his older brother when he bought the second boat.

There was also the invitation to dine on the Jolly Roger a few days ago for the brothers' last dinner party on the ship.

"It's the kind of dinner where you should bring a date, Swan," Killian explained. "But alas, I have to work that night so you'll have to dine alone I'm afraid."

"No, I don't," Emma replied casually. "I'll have a date that night, don't worry."

She had to stop herself from smiling at the disappointment Killian was trying very hard to hide. It was only when she arrived in a black cocktail dress she borrowed from Regina with Henry in tow that he realized he had been had. But even Killian's smile couldn't compete with Henry, who seemed so ecstatic to not only be out with his birth mother but also to see Killian in his pirate garb. And to be fair, Emma wasn't about to complain about the tight pants, long leather jacket, and, crazy enough, his pirate hook.

She liked this. She liked eating with Henry and bantering with the Joneses and going on patrol with David. She had even gone out for drinks with Ruby and Henry's teacher, Mary Margaret. It all just seemed so nice and easy, and she was happy - genuinely happy - for the first time in a long time.

And that was why she was once again sitting in a booth at Granny's Diner with the newspaper trying to find a place so she would have an excuse to stay. Because despite the effort, she still couldn't find any open apartments or rooms for rent or anything. It was a bit strange, but Emma just chalked it up to being a small town. Perhaps there weren't many places for rent in a place like this compared to Boston.

Ruby came over with a mug of hot chocolate with cinnamon, some scrambled eggs, and an extra big smile on her face.

"You seem happy today," Emma said as she took a sip from her mug.

"I am!" Ruby replied before quickly walking away without any more of an explanation.

Emma took a few bites of her eggs and then went back to scanning the paper. No open jobs, no open apartments. She was starting to wonder if perhaps she had gotten her hopes up for no reason. Maybe this was a sign that she wasn't meant to be here, that she was supposed to be back in that big but lonely city of Boston.

She was about to take another bite of her eggs when she heard his voice.

"Swan?"

Emma looked up to see Killian and Liam standing next to her booth with apprehensive smiles on their faces. They were sweet but still had a bit of a serious edge, and it made her worry about why exactly they was standing there.

"Hey," she said. "What's up?"

"Could we talk to you for a second?" Killian asked.

Emma nodded and motioned with her hand towards the empty bench across from her. She watched as Killian took off his leather jacket, the black button down shirt underneath straining against his chest for just a second before he tossed it onto the bench and sat down with his brother next to him. That's when Liam's eyes landed on the paper in front of her.

"Oh, did we interrupt you?" he asked. "Because we can come back later if you're in the middle of something."

Emma sighed and dropped her pen on the table. "I'm in the middle of nothing," she replied. "I have no idea how any of you live here when there's not one place for rent."

"About that," Liam said, giving a quick glance in Ruby's direction before turning back to the table. "So Ruby and I have decided to move in together, and that means Killian has an empty room now in our apartment - well, his apartment," he added. "And I know you mentioned you were looking for a place."

He stopped and looked at her, his words hanging in the air between them.

Emma's eyes narrowed as she turned and looked to Killian. "So wait, are you asking me to move in with you?"

"Not like _move in_ move in," Killian replied.

"Right, no, of course," she stammered.

Liam cleared his throat and looked over at her. "We were just suggesting that if you were having a problem finding a place, and you wouldn't mind living with Killian…"

Emma stared at them.

"I mean, I know we're just acquaintances and you may think it would be awkward living with a man you barely know," Killian said. "But I wouldn't have a problem with it, if that's what you're thinking."

Emma just continued to stare, trying to find something to say. All she could come up with was "Why?"

Killian gave her a surprised look. " _Why?_ Well, as you have already figured out, it's not easy to find a place to live here," he explained. "Plus, it would be nice to have someone else in my apartment with Liam leaving and all."

"Exactly!"

"Yea, I mean, I get that," Emma said. "But why me?"

The brothers exchanged a knowing glance between them. "Here's the thing," Liam said. "We like Henry. He's a good kid, but he's seemed a bit down lately. I suspect that's why he went to find you."

Killian's eyes locked with Emma's, and she could see the sincerity in them. "He's been a different kid since you got here, Swan," he said. "Liam and I both noticed it. So when he and Ruby finalized this whole move thing, it just seemed natural that we wanted you to take the extra room so you could stay."

Emma had to quickly grab at her mug in front of her and drink to hide the emotion she felt threatening to break through. She couldn't remember the last time someone had given her a compliment or done something nice for her and here, in one little moment, this somewhat pretentious pirate and his brother had managed to do both.

"What do you say, Swan?"

Emma sighed and put down her mug. Her car was almost ready to go. All she would have to do is get in and drive back to Boston. She told herself that she would have no problem leaving if she couldn't find a reason to stay. But sitting right across from her was the perfect chance to try something new, something that could be really good for her. Henry was her best excuse to stay, but he wasn't her only reason. In fact, there were at least two reasons sitting right across from her.

"OK, I could try it."

She couldn't help but notice how quickly a smile spread across Killian's face.

"So I'm assuming you said yes," Liam said.

"For now."

"Good enough," he replied.

Liam flagged Ruby down to tell her the good news and to ask for his usual omelette plus some eggs and toast for Killian. In exchange, she gave Liam a peck on the cheek before smiling back at Emma. "I'm glad you're staying."

Emma gave her a quick smile in return and tried to get back to her breakfast before it got cold.

"So the other thing is that I was thinking of selling some of my furniture before I move out unless you need it," Liam explained. "I didn't know if you have a lot of things to bring here from Boston."

Emma shrugged. "I have nothing to bring here from Boston."

"Nothing?" Killian asked skeptically.

"It's easy to leave town when you live in a pre-furnished apartment," she explained. "I just need to have my landlord ship the clothes from my closet."

She saw the Jones brothers give her a look. _The_ Look really. She recognized it as the look she had received from so many people when she was younger. The "We feel so sorry for you," look. It was the reason she rarely told anyone about her life growing up. It's why she had one-night stands and a box of her most treasured possessions in her car at all times. She put down roots once - well, if you call living in a Volkswagen with Neal putting down roots. But after he left her pregnant and alone, so many people would give her The Look as they sent her along on her way to jail. After that, Emma tried to steer clear of anything that would warrant someone giving her The Look.

And yet, she just put herself out there in front of the Jones boys after only knowing them for two weeks.

Emma ducked her head and started picking at her eggs, trying to ignore the weirdness that was starting to settle between them. But once again, Liam came in to try and save her from drowning.

"Well, if you have some clothes, then I'll leave the dresser to help you out," he explained. "And you can have my bed since we'll be using Ruby's now."

"Thank the bloody gods," Killian said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Liam asked incredulously.

"It means I'll be able to get a good night's sleep knowing I won't wake up at 3 a.m. with the sound of your headboard hitting the wall."

Emma loved the banter between the two of them, made only better this time by Ruby standing right behind him, plates in her hand. She had heard every word of it.

"You could've just asked for some ear plugs," the waitress said with a warm smile as she put the plates down in front of two blushing Jones boys.

"Thanks, Ruby," Killian muttered as he reached for the pepper without making eye contact with anyone at the table.

The boys tucked into their meals, practically oblivious to the fact that Emma was still sitting in front of them.

"So," she said a bit louder than needed. The brothers' heads snapped up at the same time, and two sets of blue eyes stared at her, almost willing her to find a way to make this all less awkward.

"So," Liam answered.

"What he said."

Emma smiled. These poor embarrassed boys. Time to throw them a rope and change the subject. "When can I move in?" she asked. "Not that I'm trying to kick you out or anything, Liam."

He smiled back, grateful for the opening she gave him. "I'm moving out on Saturday so Sunday maybe?"

"Sunday is good."

"And we can both help you move in then."

Emma just shook her head. "No need," she said. "I only have a box and a duffel bag of clothes."

_Again with the sob story?_ she asked herself. But Killian just gave her a charming smile this time.

"I can help you carry those up the stairs, and you can pay me in beer for my hard work."

She smiled. Maybe this arrangement wouldn't be so bad. "Just let me know what kind of beer you like."


	5. Chapter 5

The colder weather had finally started to take hold of the sleepy town in Maine, and it only made Emma more thankful that she didn't have much to move into her new place.

Her new place. It still seemed so strange to her. After all the frustration with trying to find an apartment, she was happy to take the Jones brothers up on their offer to move into Liam's now vacated room. But as she got closer to Sunday, she started to get a bit more nervous about the whole thing. It wasn't that it would be weird for her to live with a guy. She had done that before - although it ended in disaster and jail time. But the thought of being closer to Killian felt odd. It was like the idea was pleasant to her, like he had some kind of pull on her. Maybe it was just his charm or his charisma or the fact that he looked damn good in a pirate outfit.

Of course, there were people who were questioning her decision. Granny gave her a bit of a side eye when she said she was moving out. Emma wasn't sure if it was because she wouldn't be a customer of the Granny bed and breakfast anymore or if it was because she was moving in with Killian Jones. It was obvious that Granny had a favorite Jones boy, and it surely wasn't the pirate.

And then there was David.

"You're moving in with Killian?" he spit out with a skeptical stare.

"Do you know how hard it is to find a place here?" she asked him. "And now I can spend more time with Henry."

"I guess," David muttered.

"You sound like you should be my dad." She quickly turned back to her desk and stared at the screen, trying to hide some weird feeling that was bubbling in her chest. "Besides, wouldn't it be easier for all of us if I could just take him home after he wanders around drunk instead of having to lock him up here instead?"

"Good point," he conceded. "Although to be fair, I haven't had to do that since you arrived. You must have some sort of magical powers or something."

She doubted she had that kind of power over anyone.

As she pulled into her new parking space on Sunday morning, Killian was already standing there waiting for her as if he knew exactly when she would get there.

"Guess you didn't have trouble finding the place!" he said cheerfully as he gave her a welcoming smile.

"Liam gave me good directions."

"Well, he is the best navigator I know," he replied earnestly. "Let me give you a hand with your things."

"Can you grab the duffel bag from the trunk?" she asked. "There's some beer in there too."

He started heading for the back of the car, only to have Emma clear her throat to get his attention. He stopped to look at her, and she nodded her head towards the front of the car.

"Right," he said. "You have one of _those_ cars."

"What does that mean?"

"The boot is in the front, which makes it all so confusing," he said as he popped open the trunk lid and smiled. "What is this, Miss Swan?"

Emma rolled her eyes as she opened her passenger side door. "You said you didn't care about the beer I bought, so I got some Killian's Irish Red. Figured you would like it."

"It was very thoughtful," he said in a mocking tone. "And cheap!"

She just shrugged and grabbed the only box on the floor of the backseat. "You guys never told me how much rent was so I figured I would buy cheap beer to be on the safe side."

"Right," he said quietly as he slammed the trunk shut. "Do you need some help with that box?"

Emma shook her head and started walking. The box was the only thing she even cared about, and it was something she had always kept in her car. No one would dare steal anything out of it because there was nothing of value in it. At least nothing of value for anyone but her.

Plus, she had driven this stupid car for so long that she highly doubted it would be attractive enough to steal. Hell, she was still surprised that she found the need to steal it in the first place considering it's condition back then - and it had only become worse in the past decade.

And so she safely kept the box there. That way, if she ever had to pick up quickly and go somewhere, it would be in the car with her. Once again, it proved to be the right decision.

Killian led her up a set of stairs to the apartment. It was right by the water on the second floor of a building with marine stores and a seafood restaurant on the first floor. The place itself had a cool loft-type vibe with high ceilings and exposed brick. A set of windows in the living room looked out over the harbor with a kitchen along the back wall.

"I know you agreed to live here sight unseen, so I hope you like the place."

"I do," she replied. "It's definitely not the trashy bachelor pad I thought I was going to have to get used to."

Killian smiled and started walking down a hallway with her bag. "Liam used to be in the Navy so he's very particular about keeping things neat."

"How bad is this going to get without him?"

Killian looked over his shoulder and smiled. "No need to worry. I am my brother's brother." He stopped by a door off the hall. "Your room, Ms. Swan," he said with a dramatic bow.

She walked in awestruck. Another huge wall of windows looked out on the harbor and she could even see the Jolly Roger from there. The room itself was a decent size too with gray walls and a queen-size bed. As promised, there was also a dresser in a corner for her.

"You like it?" Killian asked.

She turned to see him staring at her, pensive and a bit apprehensive. He really seemed to care about what she thought of it. "This view is pretty amazing."

His face lit up and a smile immediately broke through. "I know, right?" he said excitedly as he put her bag down. "You can even see the masts of the Jolly and the Jewel without having to get out of bed."

She turned and gave him a skeptical look. "How would you know what the view is from Liam's bed?"

His smile faded a bit and red started to creep into his cheeks as he scratched an imaginary itch behind his ear. Emma had quickly picked up on the nervous tick after only talking to the Jones boys a few times, but it was obviously there. "Well, you see, Swan." Killian sighed. "So I've always been the younger brother."

"Little brother."

He stared at her in awe, and she knew exactly what he was thinking. She had only been there ten minutes and already pulled out the little brother nonsense. "Younger, Swan. Anyway, because of that, Liam always gets the better things. Better boat, better bedroom, better shower time."

"Better shower time?"

"I had the earlier time so he could sleep in," he explained. "Anyway, since Liam moved out, I figured I could get the better bedroom now."

Emma nodded silently. She could hardly blame him. After all the years she had spent in foster care, she knew what a luxury it was to beat out the other kids and get the better bedroom or better furniture or better clothes no matter how relative the word "better" meant. "Alright then," she said with a teasing smile. "Let's see what you got instead."

Killian popped up on his toes and looked genuinely giddy as he led her out of his old bedroom and into his new room. He wasn't kidding about getting the better room. It was right on the corner of the building, giving him two huge sets of windows. The space itself was also a bit bigger, allowing him room for a television stand along one of the non-windowed walls.

"A TV stand with no TV?" she asked.

"Liam took it with him, which I don't understand. He's living with Ruby now. I have no idea why he would need a television to entertain him."

He turned and popped one of his trademark eyebrows that wordlessly said to her, _If you know what I mean_. With Killian Jones, she knew exactly what he was trying to infer. The eyebrow thing wasn't necessary.

"Oh, one more thing!" he exclaimed as he pushed past her back into the hallway.

She followed him towards a door they had passed earlier and he swung it open to show her the new bathroom.

"So we only have one bathroom in the place. I hope you don't mind that we have to share."

"I don't mind."

And when she looked inside, she realized she really wouldn't mind. The bathroom was the thing she was dreading most in this apartment. She had been in enough single men's apartments to know that a clean bathroom in a bachelor pad was a rare thing. But like the rest of the apartment, the Jones's bathroom was clean and tidy and she wasn't afraid to touch the surfaces. In fact, the shower tile and countertop looked modern and new.

"I have to say, I'm impressed with this."

Killian started telling her about how the brothers had fixed it up last year, picking out the tile and deciding on a heated towel rack. "We added a seat in the shower because Ruby complained about how hard it was to shave her legs." He scrunched his nose up in disgust. "Although to be fair, it's a great place to sit when you're trying to wash away a hangover."

"I would prefer to not test that theory out."

He smiled that big warm smile at her and then led her out of the bathroom to give her a rundown of the rest of the place. Emma would need to buy her own towels and pillows since Liam took his with him. "After spending all that time with crap in the Navy, he's very particular about his linens," Killian sarcastically explained. Then he gave her a tour of the kitchen and where she could find the plates and cups. He explained the rules of the television's DVR in the living room. "When it gets to 95% full, you have 12 hours to watch and delete your shows. Then the other person gets to pitch what they want to make space."

"You seem very particular about the DVR."

"Do no joke about the DVR," he said. "I'm binge-watching 'Black Sails' and I don't need someone junking it up with crappy reality shows."

"This was a problem for you guys?"

Killian stared bitterly at the television. "Liam doesn't understand my love for pirate shows and on more than one occasion, I came home to find my shows got bumped by 'Survivor' or some crap."

"Your brother likes 'Survivor'?"

"You have no idea," he said. "Liam loves laughing at those morons who could never last a week on a deserted island. And don't get me started on Bear Grylls."

Emma tightened her lips and nodded. "So pirate shows it is then," she said with a smile.

"Thank you."

"And on that note, I'm going to unpack my things and maybe grab a nap. Granny kicked me out a bit early this morning."

"Do what you have to do, Swan," he said as he sat down on the couch and grabbed the remote. "And I hope you enjoy sleeping in my bed."

She scowled at him. "It's my bed now, pirate."

He just smiled and leaned back on the couch, his tongue firmly planted in his cheek as he gave her a mischievous grin. Killian Jones was definitely going to keep her on her toes, but for some reason, Emma didn't think she would mind.

xxx xxx xxx

After unpacking her clothes, eating lunch, and taking a nap, Emma figured it was time to dig into her sentimental box. Even though she carried it around with her everywhere, she rarely felt the need to go through it. It was usually always in her car, but not anymore. Emma wasn't even sure why she felt the need to take it out. It was as if there was something permanent about this place even though she wasn't sure why she felt that way.

But rather than dwell on that, she instead started to pull things out. Her baby blanket was on top where she always left it, her name stitched on it in purple yarn. Below that was the cigar box that held her little trinkets and baubles - an old pair of sunglasses, a mood ring. There was also a brown shoelace, but she couldn't remember why exactly it was in there.

And then there was the picture of Neal. Her first love. Her son's father. The man who had left her for the cops so she could give birth to their child in jail. But as she looked at the photo, it didn't give her the sadness it had in the past. Henry had found her, and for as complicated and confusing as the situation was, she was so thankful to have her son now.

"Swan?"

Emma jumped at Killian's voice, and quickly dropped the photo in the cigar box, clamping the lid shut.

"Sorry, Emma," he said with a sheepish grin as he stood in her doorway. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"No problem," she said as she quickly threw the things back in her box. "I was just going through some stuff."

He gave her a slight nod in understanding. "Right. So anyway, for dinner tonight, I thought it would be nice to head to the lobster shack downstairs for a good 'Welcome to the neighborhood,' meal if you're up for it."

"I'm up for it, but I need to get out of these clothes first."

"I would not recommend that," Killian said. "It's going to be messy down there. You'll want to stick with those clothes."

Emma looked down at her ratty sweatshirt and the jeans with a hole in the knee. "I look awful."

"You never look awful, Swan."

She looked up to see Killian giving her a sincere smile and tried to once again push down any warm feelings she had up for the man who lived in the room next to hers. _Bad idea,_ she told herself. _Very bad._

Instead she just smiled and nodded. "OK, let's go."

The two of them grabbed their coats and headed out in the cool night air of Storybrooke. The sun had already started to set over the harbor, painting the water next to the Jolly Roger in orange and red. They walked around the corner of the building to the lobster shack on the first floor with Killian opening the door for her to head in first.

He led her to a table covered in brown butcher paper by the windows that looked out over a different part of the harbor that didn't have any boats on it - just rocks and a little beach and the open water. When the waiter came over, he quickly ordered dinner for both of them without asking Emma what she wanted.

"I know that was a bit presumptuous of me, Swan, but I couldn't allow you to get some boring salad or something."

"It's OK," Emma replied. "Although I may have to pay a little less in rent this month to afford a lobster dinner. You know, if you ever tell me how much I have to actually pay you."

Killian gave her a slight smile and started picking at the brown paper in front of him. "So I know we were vague about that, but that was Liam's idea. He just… he didn't want you to turn it down before you moved in."

Emma felt queasy. She knew exactly where this conversation was going. A great place on the water like that wasn't going to be cheap, but it was the only place she had been able to find. She knew when she accepted their offer that she would probably have to make some sacrifices - maybe get a second job outside of the sheriff's gig or something - to cover the costs. But it did mean being closer to Henry so she would just have to make do.

"Don't worry," Emma said, trying to brush off his concern. "I can find a way to pay whatever it costs."

Killian's eyes went wide and he sat up straighter in her chair. "Oh no. No, it's not that. It's just…"

He took a deep breath and leaned forward. "So Liam and I bought the place together. We own it free and clear. We don't have to worry about a mortgage or anything like that. So he thought - and I agreed with him - that I wouldn't charge you rent."

"You what?"

"See, the reason it's so hard to rent a place in Storybrooke is because everyone can afford their own homes," he explained. "There's no need to rent anything out when your place is paid for, and it's rare to have new people move here. So since you want to live here to be closer to Henry, we thought you should just focus on him and not, you know, rent or whatever."

Emma sat there in silence staring at him. She was all prepared to negotiate a deal with him. She was sure that she was going to have to scrape money together to pay for her apartment and her car and trying to live here. Scraping by was all she had ever done. Ever. But here was this man who for all his puffery and pompousness was sitting in front of her telling her she could live with him with no strings attached. Simply opening his home to her. She had to grab the glass of water off the table and drink to hide the emotion bubbling up inside her. Once again, just when she thought she had the Jones boys figured out, one of them surprised her again.

"Emma, are you going say something?" Killian finally asked apprehensively.

But just as she was about to speak, two plates with huge lobsters were set down in front of them followed by cups of melted butter and shell crackers. She cleared her throat, asked the waiter for two beers, and turned to smile at Killian.

"I'm going to tell you that I'm paying for dinner tonight," she said. "And you can't say 'no.'"

A big smile spread across Killian's face. "I will do no such thing, Swan," he said as he handed her a cracker. "Now, let's dig in."


	6. Chapter 6

Emma and Killian fell into an easy rapport in her first week there. She would get up early and get ready in the bathroom first. After all, Killian got the better shower time. Then she headed over to the sheriff's station for work, followed by picking Henry up at school, and finally settling in at home with a quick and easy dinner that either Killian or Emma would make for both of them.

"You know, before I moved in with you, I couldn't remember the last time a man made me dinner," Emma said one night as she dug into her food.

"That is a dire shame, Swan," Killian told her. "And yet, all you get is boring spaghetti and meatballs from me tonight."

She smiled and took a sip of her beer. "But no remark about your balls in my mouth. You're slipping, pirate."

Killian started choking on his food, no doubt surprised by Emma's forwardness - or her ability to one-up him. "I was waiting until you finished to mention that," he croaked out.

Emma laughed and started twirling more pasta onto her fork. "So what is there to do on a Saturday night in this town?"

"Have you been to the Rabbit Hole yet?" he asked.

"Is that the place you stumble out of before David picks you up?"

Killian's lips tightened. "Maybe," he murmured.

"Sounds good to me," Emma replied. "At least I can watch out for you then. Maybe you could even sleep in your own bed tonight instead of the sheriff's station."

His smile was quickly back. "And where would the fun be in that?" he asked mischievously.

xxx xxx xxx

By the way Killian talked of the Rabbit Hole, Emma knew exactly what to wear that night. Dark blue jeans, black t-shirt, black boots. Nothing fancy, nothing crazy. Just a typical straight-forward outfit for a drive bar.

She was putting on some basic lipstick in the bathroom when Killian came in and reached in front of her to grab his toothbrush. His bare arm brushed against hers, and for a moment she felt a tingle radiate from that spot through her whole body before quickly pushing it away.

"Luuks wike gweat mods dink awike!"

"What?"

Killian spit out his toothpaste in front of her, not worrying about whether it was cool to do that in front of a woman - it was just something he could get away with in front of a roommate. "Sorry, Swan." He took a handful of water and then spit it out again. "I said, 'Looks like great minds think alike.' We're wearing the same shirt."

Emma looked down at her black t-shirt and then back at Killian, realizing he was wearing the same basic black. "Guess so, but I think those boots of yours have a bigger heel than mine."

Killian looked down in shock, giving Emma a quick exit right past him. "Swan, these boots don't have heels!"

She knew they didn't. She had seen him wear them earlier in the week. Black leather ankle boots that fit neatly under his skinny jeans. And no, she hadn't stared at the boots and the jeans to get a better view when he wasn't paying attention.

Emma grabbed her red leather coat from the rack by the door and put it on. "Alright, pirate. Let's go. I'm thirsty."

Killian gave her a slight scowl before grabbing his classic motorcycle jacket and following her out.

As she suspected, the night air was crisp but cold - it definitely was getting closer to winter in Maine. Luckily, the walk wasn't far, giving her and Killian a chance to simply chat about the town or sailing or Boston.

The bar itself was as she expected to be - a dive with a cheap bar top, a shelf with liquor in the back and some beer on tap. It was the typical no-nonsense bar that she found more comfortable than those fancy cocktail places in Boston.

"Pick your poison, Swan!" Killian said with a flourish.

"Captain and Coke."

He raised his eyebrows in mocking surprise. "So you like captains, Swan?" he asked.

"Yep," she said. "But unfortunately, the only captain I know is dating Ruby."

Killian's eyes narrowed. "I know you're just trying to get under my skin."

She shrugged with a teasing grin while he ordered two drinks for them and some onion rings before directing her to a booth along the far wall.

"So how do you like Storybrooke so far?"

She smiled. "I actually like it," she said. "I'm a little surprised since I came from Boston and thought it would be some boring small town or something. But Henry has been a really good guide so…"

His stared at her. "So what?"

"So I feel like, I don't know, like I belong here, which is weird because I've never felt that way about anywhere."

"Really?"

Emma shrugged. "When you grow up without parents and you move from one house to another, you never really develop an idea of what home is."

He nodded in understanding. "I sort of get that," he said. "After our father abandoned us, Liam and I had to raise ourselves, but at least I had him with me."

"It must have been nice to have your brother watching out for you."

"I am lucky to have him," Killian said with a smile. "You know, we bounced around from place to place for a few years before we found Storybrooke, but like you, we felt like it was time to stop. It just seemed like it was where we were supposed to be."

She smiled as he wistfully described how the brothers found Storybrooke on a weekend road trip, how they stayed at Granny's and worked in the harbor until they decided to just not leave, how they had bought the Jolly Roger and earned enough from tourist cruises and dinner parties to buy Liam's Jewel.

"I never would've expected you could earn that much from something like that."

"We didn't either," Killian explained. "Things just kept working our way, and it made us happy. It was like…"

She stared at him in anticipation as his mind started to wander. "It was like what?"

"Magic," he said wistfully. "Ah, Robin!"

The bartender brought over their drinks and a plate piled high with onion rings.

"Emma, do you know Robin?"

"No," she said, sticking out her hand. "Emma Swan."

Robin smiled warmly back at her. "Robin Locksley. I was wondering when I would meet you."

It took her a minute to remember where she had heard his name before. "Oh, you're Regina's boyfriend."

"I am!" he replied. "And you are Killian's -"

"Roommate."

"Exactly," he said with a teasing smile.

"I just needed a place to stay," she said in a matching tone.

Robin's smile turned more soft and warm towards her. "Well, I know Regina is glad you're here. We all are. Henry is just such a happy kid now that he has both of you."

"Thank you," Emma said quietly.

Robin cleared his throat and tucked his tray under his arm. "Anyway, enjoy the onion rings," he said with a flourish before walking away.

Killian smiled at her from across the table. "It still amazes me, Swan. For as badass as you project yourself to be, hearing about Henry turns you so soft."

Emma took a swig from her drink and started pulling off her coat. "Let's dig into these things."

"And now you dodge my observation? Fine, Swan," he said cheerfully. "Let's dig in."

He pulled off his leather jacket and tossed it in the corner of the booth before reaching out for a handful of onion rings. It gave Emma the perfect view of the tattoo on his forearm. She had seen it in passing on an occasion or two during their first week in the apartment, but this was the first time she really saw it. A red heart, a dagger, and a banner with the name "Milah" on it.

"Who's Milah?" she asked as she took a bite from her onion ring.

Killian froze, and she could tell he was purposely trying not to look at her. "What did you say?" he asked with his voice darker than usual.

"Milah," she replied quietly. "On the tattoo."

He grabbed his glass, his finger teasing the edge of it. "Someone from long ago." He took a long draw from his drink before dropping it down harder than he seemed to have expected. "She was someone I was in love with, and now she's gone."

Emma knew she should just be quiet and not ask more questions, but she couldn't help her prying. "Gone where?"

"She died," he said quietly. "She came to live with me, and her ex found her and… Well, that was that."

"Is that when you and Liam started traveling around?"

"Pretty much," he said with a wistful smile. "He's a good brother that way, I guess."

Emma gave him a weak smile and took a sip of her drink. She didn't need to know the details about what happened between him and Milah or how bad the end was. If anything, she was surprised that his revelation made her want to open herself up more to him. Hell, she couldn't even remember the last time someone else had trusted her with such personal information, but once again there was just something about the Jones boys - and Killian in particular - that made her feel so comfortable.

"Bad things have a way of shaping us," she said, finally breaking the silence between them. "Sometimes I wonder what would've happened if Neal hadn't turned on me."

"Neal?" he asked, his blue eyes finally looking up at her again.

"Henry's dad," she explained. "He left me."

"Ah, heartbreak. Everyone has it."

Emma took a deep breath and looked into Killian's blue eyes. "But not everyone has their ex break up with them by turning them into the cops for stealing."

Killian's look turned more sympathetic. "I didn't know that."

"We had stolen some watches that we were going to fence," she explained. "But the only people who showed up at the meet were me and the police. And then after I got thrown in jail, I found out I was pregnant."

"With Henry?"

Emma nodded.

"Henry told us - Liam and I that is - that his father was a firefighter who died in the line of duty."

"Because that's what I told him," she said bitterly. "He doesn't have to know that I lied. At least not yet."

Killian simply nodded in understanding, letting her have a quiet moment while she took another drink. She still hadn't quite figured out what made him so special, why she felt so comfortable sharing all these intimate and deep things about her to him. It was like they had a connection somehow in a way that she didn't have with anyone else. But why? What was so special about Killian Jones that made her want to finally open up to someone?

Maybe it was just because it was Killian and he was no nonsense, no drama. Just a guy in a booth at a bar drinking with her and sharing a plate of onion rings. He grabbed another one from the plate with one hand while hailing Robin with the other.

"I think we're going to need some more of these, don't you? And maybe a few more drinks?" he added with a smile.

Emma laughed. "I think that's a good plan, pirate."

xxx xxx xxx

The walk home was much warmer than the walk to the bar. It probably helped that Emma and Killian had made the most of the Rabbit Hole's bar - and its kitchen. Emma didn't think Granny's onion rings could be topped, but the bar was definitely a tough contender.

At least it was after a few drinks.

Killian and Emma laughed as they walked up the steps to their place, although the process didn't go very well. He was able to get the key in the door, but it wouldn't budge for a bit. He muttered something about Liam not fixing what he was supposed to fix before busting it open with a swift shoulder, nearly tripping from the extra momentum. Emma followed him in, hanging her red leather coat up next to his black jacket on some hooks on the wall.

"Alright, Swan! I will give credit where credit is due," he said with a flourish. "You actually will be responsible for me sleeping in my own apartment tonight."

Emma smiled and thanked him as he headed for the kitchen with her in tow. Killian grabbed two glasses from the cupboard and then a pitcher of water from the fridge. He poured it into the first glass and handed it to her before getting her own.

"David will be very thankful that he didn't have to deal with you," she said.

"You need to ask him for a raise."

She laughed before downing the glass, the cool water soothing as it went down. She hadn't had that much to drink - at least not enough to impair her judgment or give her a hangover tomorrow - but she definitely had a nice buzz going. And it helped that she had an attractive man walk her own.

But of course, the attractive man was her roommate. And that couldn't end well, right? Not that she had any experience with roommates or male friends or, really, friends of any kind. But then again, Storybrooke was definitely bringing out her good side, a better side, a side that she didn't even realize she had.

That being said, Killian was nice and attractive and sweet - and her roommate. It would be better to just end tonight, go to bed, and not think the thoughts she was thinking.

"Well, Mr. Jones," she said, dropping her glass on the counter. "Thanks for showing me a good time, but I need to get some sleep."

"Oh, wait!" Killian yelled before rounding the kitchen counter to come stand next to her. He extended his elbow in her direction and smiled. "A gentleman always ensures that his lady friend makes it safely to her door at night."

Emma rolled her eyes but humored him, sliding her hand into the crook of his warm elbow. His other hand covered her fingers and he led them down the hallway.

"As you know, this is me," Emma said as they approached her bedroom.

"Of course." He let go of her hand and slowly pulled his elbow away. "I had a really good time with you tonight." Killian took a step forward and faced her. "You are quite the woman, Emma Swan."

And before she could even try and comprehend what was going on, he leaned in and kissed her. Her hands went up to his chest, instinctively ready to push him away but damn, his kiss and the way his teeth gently grazed her lower lip, pulling it just slightly back towards him, and she couldn't help but follow him. Before she could help herself, she was kissing him back. She deserved to be kissed like this, deserved to have a man that she wanted to reward like this. She deserved to let her hands wander his tight muscles as he directed her against the wall, his hands roaming over her curves. And she did the same, her nails trailing down his stomach towards his belt buckle, causing him to hum in approval.

The warm sound of approval broke Emma out of her trance. _Oh fuck._ She was kissing Killian Jones, her roommate who lived in the bedroom next to hers, who shared a bathroom with her, who had to help her get her protein bars off a high shelf in the kitchen.

Emma gently pushed against his chest, immediately questioning her decision with her lips now cold without him as he stared down at her with his fiery blue eyes. He looked gorgeous, vulnerable, open to her, and she couldn't remember the last time a man looked at her like that. But this needed to stop.

"I, uh, I have to get some sleep," she stammered. "Big day with Henry tomorrow."

Killian took a step back but his eyes didn't leave her. "Emma," he murmured.

Dammit, he looked so… She couldn't really describe it, but it wasn't happy. Maybe crushed? And what was worse is she had caused him to look like that. But she had no other choice. She had to walk away.

She ducked her head to avoid looking at him again. "Good night, Killian," she said quietly.

Emma reached for her bedroom door, squeezing her way in and quickly closing it behind her. But she wasn't quick enough. Just before she got it closed, she heard him. He may have not even realized it, but she heard him, his voice dripping with confusion and sadness.

"Good night, Emma Swan."


	7. Chapter 7

The water felt so good as Emma sat on the hangover seat in the shower. Although to be fair, she wasn't hungover. In fact, she was wide awake replaying the events of the night before over and over again in her head.

Killian had kissed her - and she had kissed him back.

And it was good.

How could she have been so stupid? How could she have let it go that far? He was a friend - when he wasn't dishing out the one-liners and overtly flirting with her. But she had always assumed the flirting was just an act, that it wasn't real. That was, of course, until last night.

She just wasn't ready to deal with that yet, which is why she woke up early and decided to get ready, hoping she wouldn't wake him up. After the long shower, it didn't take her much time to quickly get dressed and get ready in the bathroom. She just brushed her teeth, threw on some make-up and pulled her wet hair into a bun. Sure, it was cold outside and the wet hair wasn't a good idea, but she couldn't risk turning on her blow dryer and waking Killian up.

Emma grabbed her jacket off the hook in the hallway and headed out into the cool morning air. Her car quickly came to life when she put the key in - something she was quite thankful for considering she wasn't sure if it would cooperate with her this morning in the cold. The drive to Regina's place was quick, reminding Emma that she still hadn't become used to the idea of driving somewhere without dealing with traffic. Once again, this wasn't Boston.

She wasn't sure if her car was fully in park before the front door of the mayor's mansion was thrown open with an eager Henry standing on the porch waving at her.

"Emma!" he said, bounding down the front walkway to give her a big hug. "I'm so glad I get to spend today with you."

She put her arms around him and squeezed. After so many years of running away from the idea of having a son, this felt so comfortable to her. "Hey, kid," she replied. "I was going to ask if you were excited about today, but I guess I have my answer."

Henry looked up and gave her a big smile. "I just have to grab my bag and then we'll be ready to go."

Emma followed him into Regina's house, still felt a bit intimidated by the place. It probably didn't help that the house belonged to her son's adoptive mother - his mother who actually raised him and cared for him - and it also didn't help that she was the mayor.

"Emma, it's good to see you," Regina said as she walked down the stairs. "How has your first week been in your new apartment?"

She silently cringed thinking about Killian and the kiss while still keeping a smile on her face. "It's been good so far. I think I'm settled in now, and it's nice to be so close to Henry and spend some time with him."

Regina nodded. "I know he likes it too," she said with a smile that Emma took as genuine.

She took a quick glance around to make sure Henry was still upstairs. "So, about Henry," Emma said quietly. "Liam and Killian mentioned that he wasn't very happy before I got here. Do you know what that's about?"

Regina's eyes darted around, trying to find a focal point on Emma's face, and Emma knew it was a sure sign that she was nervous about answering.

"Um, well." Regina took a glance up to see if Henry was still occupied in his room and then leaned closer to Emma. "He's starting to get older, and I'm not sure if he really feels like he belongs here."

"Here as in Storybrooke or here as in with you?"

Regina took a deep breath and looked back at her. "I've never hidden the truth from him that he was adopted, and I think as the mayor's son, he's found it hard to make friends and find his place here."

"So he went looking for his birth mother," Emma said quietly.

Regina just nodded, and Emma could tell she was nervous but honest. Hell, she had to give Regina credit for letting her in their lives then if that were the case, and perhaps she was doing it simply because she knew it was best for Henry. For that, Emma would be grateful.

The silence between the two women was broken by the stomping of feet as Henry came barrelling down the upstairs hallway. "OK, I'm ready," he said as he raced down the stairs with a backpack on.

"What's in the bag, kid?" Emma asked.

He gave both women a smile that seemed a bit too enthusiastic for Emma's taste.

"It's just a book."

"OK, kid," she replied sarcastically. "Let's get-"

"What book?"

Emma and Henry turned to Regina, who had a very interested look on her face.

"Just some fairy tales that Mrs. Nolan gave me," Henry replied casually.

Regina's body stiffened slightly. "Oh," she said with a forced calmness. "Well, try not to bore Ms. Swan with it."

Bore her? Emma didn't understand. Regina was happy she was spending time with her son, but was trying to dissuade him from sharing something with her? That wasn't going to happen. "Henry could never bore me," Emma said, turning to give Henry a smile.

The kid looked more than giddy with excitement and started running down the stairs to the front door, barely giving Emma enough time to say goodbye to Regina before following him to her car.

"So," she said as she put her key in the ignition. "You seem excited today?"

"I am so excited!" Henry exclaimed.

Emma gave him a smile and started the car. "So where are we headed, kid?"

"First, we should have breakfast at Granny's."

"Of course."

"And then we need to go to the library and see Belle."

Emma sat back in her seat and stared at him. "You want to go to the library on a Sunday afternoon?"

"Yea, but I have a good reason."

He flashed her one of his trademark smiles that told her this was more than just a trip to the library. He had these things he would call operations, grand plans involving adventure and excitement - at least for a kid - with names like Operation Cobra. Emma could tell by his excitement that he was about to rope her into another operation. She couldn't wait.

xxx xxx xxx

After breakfast at Granny's, Emma and Henry decided to walk to the library since it was only a block away. But as they got closer, she noticed the sign on the front door with the hours of operation.

"Hey, kid. Bad news. Doesn't look like the library is open."

Henry gave her one of his operation smiles. "Don't worry," he said matter-of-factly. "I called Belle last night, and she said she would open early for me."

Emma stopped in her tracks. "You what?"

"I called Belle."

"Does your mom know you called her?"

"Maybe."

The kid was definitely lying. There was no way Regina knew about this. But really, why would she even suspect something? Why would any boy call the librarian to see if she could open the library early on a Sunday? Emma had started to love Henry, but even she had her limits when it came to wondering if this kid was really her son or not. A 10 a.m. trip to the library on a Sunday was one of those times.

But Henry didn't notice the change in her demeanor. Instead, he quickly turned on his heel and kept walking down the street with Emma trying to catch up to him.

The door to the library opened with ease, a little bell on it announcing their presence, and the librarian looked up from her spot at the front desk to greet them with a smile.

"Morning, Henry!"

"Morning!" Henry said enthusiastically.

"Hey," Emma replied with less enthusiasm.

"So is there a reason you wanted to be here this early?" Belle asked.

Henry just smiled. "I wanted Emma to help me with a school project and since I don't have alot of time with her today, I thought we should get started early."

Belle nodded in approval. "Well, if you need any help, just let me know. I was actually going to catch up on some book repair anyway so just holler."

"We will!"

Henry gripped Emma's hand a little tighter than she expected, and he dragged her off to a table in a more secluded corner among the stacks of books.

"So, Henry. Have I told you about my secret power?"

Henry's eyes grew big. "You have a secret power? That makes so much sense now!"

Emma stared at him. "Makes what?"

He just stared back at her as if he was expecting her to perform a magic trick or grow two heads or something.

"Anyway, I have this secret power that I can tell when someone is lying, and you are lying."

Henry slumped in his chair. "Was it that obvious?"

Emma smiled teasingly. "So you want to tell me what's really going on?"

Henry sat back up and smiled. "Wait until you see my book."

He pulled a large brown leather-bound book out of his bag, asking Emma for some help because it was too heavy for him to handle alone. The front of it had a gold border around it with gold lettering.

"Once Upon a Time," she muttered as she read the front of it.

"It's awesome!" Henry said excitedly. "And you're in it too."

"I'm in this book?" she asked skeptically.

"Yea, you're a princess even. You're the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming."

Emma stared at him. She was the daughter of who? "Sorry, kid. That's not me."

"I know you think your parents abandoned you, but they didn't!"

Emma shushed him and put her hand on his shoulder to calm him down. "OK, kid. OK," she said. "So let's say my parents really didn't abandon me, which they did. What's in the book that makes you think my parents are fairy tale characters?"

Henry's smile returned and he opened up the book for both of them to see. "Once upon a time-"

"Yea, I got that, kid. What else?"

And Henry was off with page after page of fairy tale characters starting with an evil queen and Snow White. Rumplestilskin. A woman in a big library. Henry gave Emma a knowing glance. "See? This is what I mean."

Emma looked up from the book and between the stacks to see Belle at the front desk fixing the binding on a book, her blonde hair matching the hair of a character with the same name in a fairy tale book. "Sure, kid," Emma said quietly.

This was honestly a bit strange. She knew this was fake, that it was a fairy tale, but it was another one of those moments she seemed to keep having in Storybrooke where something seemed so familiar. Casting the idea aside, she looked back down at Henry as he moved along in the book.

"And this is the important part!" he said as he turned the page.

A man lying on the ground in a medieval nursery, red blooming on his shoulder, as a woman next to him puts a baby in a hollowed out tree trunk. Another woman in black stands nears them, a sinister smile on her face.

Henry turned the page to another beautiful illustration of the baby as the door on the cabinet in the tree trunk closes, her hand grasping at a white baby blanket.

Emma's baby blanket.

The one sitting in a box in her apartment.

It was a coincidence. It had to be a coincidence. Or a joke. Or someone trying to play a trick on her. There was no way that baby in a fairy tale book was her.

Luckily, Henry didn't notice Emma panicking a bit beside him. Instead, he pushed on, barely realizing how important that moment was to her. She so desperately wanted to go back to that page and stare at it some more. But instead, she took a deep breath and let him keep going.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much more to go. Right after that was a page full of purple smoke as the Evil Queen sent everyone in the Enchanted Forest to a place without magic. A curse successfully enacted, according to the story on the page.

And then there was nothing.

"This is where I got stuck," Henry said. "It says the curse was enacted, but I don't know what happened after that."

"Maybe nothing, Henry," Emma said. "Maybe it's just a fairy tale."

"No, there's more to it. I know it," he told her. "The answer is somewhere in this library. There has to be a second volume or a sequel or something. There has to be more!"

Emma sighed, resigning herself to the idea that she was about to spend a day doing research on fairy tales in the library with her son. And because that didn't sound weird enough, there was the other nagging piece that made her actually feel the need to help him out, and it wasn't because she was his mother. It was because she was in the book.

xxx xxx xxx

Emma parked her car and took a deep breath. Dropping Henry off at Regina's hadn't cleared her head after their afternoon searching through stacks of books for fairy tales. She still couldn't fully process what had happened with that book and some curse and… She would figure it out later. Because right now, she had something else to worry about: facing Killian.

It wasn't that late and she could see the lights on in her apartment from outside. He was definitely there. She just hoped things wouldn't be too awkward when she walked into the apartment.

Of course, she would have to walk in first and that may be a bit of a challenge. Putting her hand in the pocket of her jeans, she realized that her house key wasn't there.

"Bloody hell," Emma muttered before rolling her eyes at herself. "Bloody hell!" she repeated.

That second one was just for her. Living with Killian Jones for only a week had already done a number on her brain in so many ways. Swearing was just the latest.

Emma started feeling around her other pockets for the key and, without having much success, she decided to just suck it up and knock on the door.

Killian answered in a pair of blue jeans, a white t-shirt and a smile that made her heart beat faster.

"Swan."

He was trying to act casual, but Emma could tell it was just a show. She could tell she was having an effect on him, which was understandable considering the kiss they had shared. But she had spent hours at the library with Henry today overthinking her life. She didn't need more drama running around in her brain.

"Hey," she said casually as she pushed her way past him into the apartment. "Sorry, I couldn't find my house key."

"Right." He gave her a weak smile. "Well, I was about to pull a pizza out of the oven so maybe we can eat and talk."

He looked open and hopeful and everything that she didn't need him to look like. She knew she should talk to him, and she knew she had to talk to him. But…

"I don't know if I want to talk tonight. It's been a long day."

Killian's smile faltered a bit, but he quickly recovered. "Then just pizza it is, Swan," he said politely. "Plus, if you want, I have a few 'Black Sails' we can catch up with on the DVR."

Emma gave him a smile. She felt she at least owed him that considering he was trying to be a gentleman and smooth things over after the rocky end to last night.

"Sure," she said. "Let me just get changed and try to find my key."

He smiled. "I'll be on the couch if you need anything," he said.

She nodded and headed back to her room. Killian had definitely flustered her in a way no other man had in years, probably even since Henry's father. But she had to quickly push it out of her mind, because that fluster was causing her to forget where the bloody hell she put her house key.

And there she went, cursing like a pirate again.

Emma peeled off her red leather coat and threw it on the bed. Then she started shoving her hands in the pockets of her jeans. Not the front pockets, not the back pockets. She took her boots off to check, but for sure, there was no way she had stuffed it in there.

On to the coat then, although Emma highly doubted she would have success. She had already tried the outside pockets to no avail, and the coat had a few inside pockets that she rarely if ever used. But considering she had nowhere else to look, she started unzipping this pocket and that.

Instead of the key, she found an old piece of gum and some checks from Granny's diner. She unfolded them, finding it odd that there was nothing written on the front of them, and one of them was ripped in half. She turned them over, wondering why she would've even kept random dinner checks.

She could feel her blood go cold as she recognized the writing on the back. Her writing. It was scribbled in a frantic way, almost as if she was rushing when she wrote it. And even though she couldn't remember writing it or putting it in her pocket, there was no denying that she was the one who wrote the words on the paper.

She hands began to tremble, making it hard for her to reread what was written. She had to hold her wrist steady with her other hand just to make out the words again, to make sure that she wasn't hallucination or something. It was real and concrete and right in front of her.

"I belong in Storybrooke/  
My parents are Mary Margaret and David/  
Henry is my son/  
Kiss him, break curse"

She could feel her legs losing strength, and she quickly sat down on the bed to try and regain some understanding of what the hell was going on. It felt like the floor was spinning and her bed was about to swallow her whole.

"Swan! I forgot to ask if pepperoni was OK."

Her head snapped up, and she took a deep breath, trying to hide whatever emotion would come out in her voice if she couldn't control it. "Fine."

Good. Smart. One-word answer. That could cover up so much.

"Cool! It's on the counter when you're ready!"

"Sure."

She took another deep breath to no avail. Why the hell would she put a random note in a coat pocket she rarely used that said this? And who did she mean by Mary Margaret and David? Because the only Mary Margaret and David she knew were the Nolans, and there was no way Henry's teacher and Emma's boss were old enough to be her parents. It was weird and bizarre and there was another explanation for all of it. It would all be fine.

Besides, she hadn't even looked at the second piece of paper in her hand - and it was only a half piece of paper. What could be weirder than what she already read?

"I love Killian Jones"

Emma's body responded without thinking. She stood up slowly and looked out at Killian sitting on his couch watching television. Then she closed the door quietly, turned off the light, and gently laid down on her bed, the pieces of green-and-white paper held tight in her hand. Her mind was racing, she couldn't think straight, and trying to figure out any of it in this kind of state would be bad.

All she had to do was close her eyes and go to sleep. There would be a logical explanation for all of it tomorrow.


	8. Chapter 8

Emma woke up to the sound of her alarm on her phone and pieces of paper still clutched in her hand. Sleeping didn't really help her after the night she had. She still had no answers, no ideas, or no clues about how she got those notes in her jacket pockets.

Notes in her handwriting that she didn't remember writing.

And now she had to get up and get ready to go to work alongside a man that Henry thought was her father. A man who was as old as she was. A man she also apparently believed was her father - at least according to the random notes she found last night.

Emma slipped off the clothes she has slept in and grabbed her big, fluffy robe from the back of her bedroom door, sliding her arms into the warm, cozy sleeves. Then she took a deep breath and slowly opened the door.

The television was off in the living room, but Killian was still on the couch, asleep in the clothes he was wearing the night before. At some point, he had grabbed the black fleece blanket off the back of the couch to cover himself up, but other than that, he hadn't moved from that spot. She tiptoed a little closer to the main living area and saw that he still had some leftover pizza from the night before sitting on the kitchen counter, waiting for her.

Emma rubbed her hand over her face and walked to the bathroom, hoping a hot shower would help her. But just like the morning before, the warm water did nothing to wash away the thoughts in her head.

Killian had made her dinner. He had tried to talk to her about their kiss. He even fell asleep on the couch last night waiting for her to join him. And instead, she had closed the door, shut herself away from the rest of the world to figure things out, and it hadn't helped. In fact, it got worse. How the hell did things go so bad in only 48 hours?

Everything was fine on Saturday morning. She hadn't kissed Killian. She hadn't heard Henry's theory about this town being cursed. She hadn't found those notes in her jacket pocket.

With the water doing her no favors, she finally got out and threw on the clothes she had brought in the bathroom with her. Then she brushed her teeth and dried her hair, too lost in her thoughts to care if the blow dryer's noise would wake up Killian from his slumbering state on the couch. And when she finally was ready to face the world, she opened the bathroom door and immediately smelled fresh coffee. Her shoulders fell forward in agony.

"Son of a bitch," she muttered.

Emma dragged herself to her room, zipped up her boots, and grabbed her jacket. Then she realized she had left the pieces of paper on her bed and quickly grabbed them, finding a spot for them in her underwear drawer. If Killian found them in there, she could just use his snooping to divert his attention from what he read on the paper.

Killian smiled at her as soon as she walked into the kitchen, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he had slept on the couch in his own apartment because of her.

"Morning, Swan."

"Morning," she said quietly.

The small smile on his face seemed to falter a bit as he held out a travel mug for her. "Coffee. It's fresh."

"Thanks."

Killian leaned up against the counter and took a sip from his mug. "So last night."

"Yea," she replied as she started walking toward the door. "Something came up."

"Something came up?" he asked sarcastically. "What came up?"

"Just something."

He audibly sighed, stopping her from wanting to walk any farther. She looked up to see his head down as he ran his fingers through his gorgeous brown hair.

"Swan, are you avoiding me?" he asked quietly.

"I'm not avoiding you," she replied. "I'm just dealing with stuff."

He looked up at her with his piercing blue eyes, and she could feel the breath hitch in her chest.

"Dealing with stuff?"

She could only shrug in response. She owed him something. She definitely owed him more than an indifferent shrug. But she just didn't know what exactly she could give him.

"Can we talk about it later?"

Killian just nodded. "Later," he said solemnly before giving her a small smile. "You should get to work before David arrests you for being late."

He turned his back to her, trying to occupy himself with getting some cereal for breakfast. Emma could only stand there staring at him before she finally willed herself to move.

"Have a good day," she said as she headed for the door.

"You too."

She shook her head and walked out the door. Yea, right. Like she was going to have a good day.

Just as the door closed behind her, she realized she didn't have her house key and wouldn't be able to get back in without talking to Killian later. Because their relationship wasn't awkward enough already.

She started walking to her car, her head down as she tried to avoid the sun, the air, the town. This was just not going to be a good day.

And then the siren went off, making her jump and clutch at her chest in surprise. She turned to see the sheriff's car driving down her street towards her with David behind the wheel.

" _My parents are Mary Margaret and David."_

She groaned. Today was definitely going to suck.

David pulled up beside her and rolled down the passenger window.

"Morning, Emma."

"Sheriff."

David smiled. "Want to see me perform a little magic?"

Magic? Because curses weren't enough for her apparently. She wasn't sure if this magic would be David pulling a rabbit out of a hat or proving he was truly Prince Charming with super powers.

"What kind of magic?" she asked.

David closed his eyes as if he was in a trance. "You are missing your house keys."

Emma's eyes widened as she stared at the sheriff. Holy crap, he was a mind reader, which means Henry's theory about this town being full of people with magic could be true.

"How did you know that?" she said in astonishment.

David opened his eyes and gave her a big smile. "Magic!" His smile faltered. "Or Belle found them at the library this morning and called to let me know she had them."

Emma could feel her heart pounding in her chest. Henry had made her believe that this was some enchanted town under a curse and for a fleeting moment, she actually thought her father had magic.

_He's not your father_ , she had to remind herself.

Emma climbed into the car and shook her head. She would just have to accept that today was going to be weird. There was no other option.

xxx xxx xxx

Emma was finishing up the last of her paperwork for the day. There was Leroy, who had complained that his van had been vandalized. David and Emma concluded the van had indeed been attacked - by Leroy's friend, Tom. Of course, if the worst criminal Emma had to deal with in this town was a guy who put shaving cream on his friend's car, then being the sheriff here wasn't too bad.

Although she did wonder why Leroy and Tom seemed to be friends with each other as well as a bunch of other guys who were all a bit short of stature. Not that Emma had anything against short men. She just preferred tall men… with blue eyes… and dark brown hair that flopped around a bit after he ran his fingers through it while drinking coffee in the morn-

Nope. She wasn't going to do that again. Right before lunch, she started to get hungry and tried to distract herself by thinking about Killian. Of course, that led to David catching her daydreaming and she had to come up with some excuse about craving Granny's onion rings.

"You must really love those onion rings," David said with a teasing smile as he put some paperwork down on her desk.

And that just led to Emma staring at David again. Henry had gotten too deep into her head. His book wasn't real, of course, but his enthusiasm for it was - and that enthusiasm was infectious. David wasn't her father, that much was obvious, but Henry thought he was, which made Emma have these strange thoughts about her father defending her like a knight in shining armor or something else crazy that could fit into Henry's fairy tale book.

But that was never going to happen. Fairy tales weren't real.

Emma heard the door to the station open and footsteps come down the hall as Mary Margaret turned the corner and headed straight into David's office.

"Hello, Prince Charming," she said, rising up onto her tiptoes to give her husband a kiss.

Something went soft in Emma's chest. Wouldn't they be awesome parents to have? Wouldn't it be great if they had a daughter? But once again, Emma had to quickly push that thought away. No doubt that they would be great parents, but they would never be _her_ great parents.

Mary Margaret turned and smiled. "Hi, Emma!" she said cheerfully as she headed over to her friend's desk. "David and I were headed out to that fish and chips place by the water if you wanted to join us for dinner."

Emma just shook her head. It was kind of Mary Margaret to offer, but she didn't want to be the third wheel on that sugary sweet date, especially not after the day she had with Henry and his book. "Thanks for the invite, but Killian is making dinner for us, and I promised I would pick up dessert on the way home."

Mary Margaret's eyes lit up. "Killian is making dinner for you?" she teased.

"It's not like that," Emma said, rolling her eyes at her friend. "He isn't working as much now that it's colder, so he has some spare time and likes to cook. I just get to be the recipient of his endeavors."

"Uh huh," her friend replied with a knowing smile. "Well, you enjoy dinner with Killian."

"Mary Margaret!"

The two women turned to David, who was standing in the doorway of his office with his coat in his hand. "Don't give my sheriff a hard time. If she wants to have dinner with her male roommate, then so be it."

Mary Margaret scowled in her husband's direction. "Do you even remember the last time you cooked anything for me?"

"Sunday morning. Breakfast in bed followed by some other things."

"Gross."

Emma startled even herself with that response. She sounded like a teenager girl hearing her parents talk about having sex. A shiver ran down her spine followed by another internal reminder in her head that her two friends standing in front of her were not her parents.

David and Mary Margaret seemed to both have the same teasing smiles directed back towards Emma's direction.

"C'mon, Prince Charming. Let's leave Emma to her dinner date."

"It's not a date."

David seemed to be ignoring the whole conversation as he put his coat on. "Do you want me to drive you home since I picked you up this morning?"

"No need," Emma said with a hand wave. "I can lock up and then just walk home."

David gave her a warm smile and wave, and Mary Margaret did the same before the two of them said their goodbyes and headed out for the night.

Emma tossed her papers into the filing box on her desk and straightened her work area out before grabbing her coat, shutting off the lights, and locking the door to the sheriff's station.

The night was cool as she headed home, but that didn't stop her from taking the long way to get there, delaying the inevitable awkwardness when she got back to her apartment. This was exactly why she wasn't interested in starting something with Killian. It wasn't like they lived near each other or would see each other on a regular basis. They lived in the same apartment, in rooms right next door to each other. They shared the same damn bathroom! How would this work if they started dating or sleeping together or - even worse - developed a real relationship with each other?

She would just have to suck it up, put on her big girl pants, and deal with it. She just didn't want to do that tonight.

Emma finally decided it was time to head home and made the turn towards the marina and her apartment. She slipped her house key in the lock, thankful that Belle had found it and called in her missing key.

As soon as she opened the door, she could smell tomato sauce and spices filling the air.

"Emma?"

"Hey," she said as she took her coat off and hung it by the front door.

Killian rounded the corner with a big smile on his face. "Just in time for dinner, Swan. Lasagna sound good?"

Emma just stood there awkwardly. "Sure."

She was sure he realized that she was acting strange, but he didn't push it. Instead, he just grabbed two plates out of the cupboard and started dishing out the lasagna.

"Here you go, Swan," he said, handing her a plate. "There's also some garlic bread over there, and you need to grab yourself a fork. Oh, and there's some wine in the fridge."

"Wine?"

Killian just shrugged. "Beer doesn't go well with a meat lasagna."

Emma did as she was asked, filling her hands with food and drink as she headed over to the table. Killian followed close behind with his own plate and a corkscrew, handing it to her while he headed back for wine glasses.

As usual, once they started eating and drinking, the conversation came naturally about what they had done all day. Emma told Killian about how David picked her up from the apartment that morning to get her keys.

"So that siren wasn't because he was going to arrest me for something?"

Emma's eyes narrowed in Killian's direction. "Why would he be arresting you?"

He gave her a mischievous look in return. "No reason."

"Killian."

He leaned back in his chair and laughed loudly. "Oh, Swan. Your face right now is amazing!"

After they caught their breath, Killian told about visiting Liam's new apartment, which also happened to be Ruby's old apartment.

"Lots of red," he explained in an exaggerated tone. "But I got the television back for my bedroom!"

"Good for you!" Emma replied teasingly.

"So now you're more than welcome to come snuggle in my bed and watch Netflix."

And then he stopped, perhaps realizing what he had said - or really, what he had implied. Emma had noticed it too.

"So about that," Killian said quietly.

"About Netflix?"

He gave her an exasperated look. "You know what I mean, Emma," he said. "We have to talk about the other night."

"Do we?"

Killian leaned forward with his elbows on the table, his shoulders squared, and his eyes looking directly at her. "Yes, Emma. We do."

She took a deep breath and leaned back. "I just… I have some things that I need time to figure out."

"Like our kiss."

He sounded dejected, almost sad, and it broke her heart that she had done this to him.

"That's one of them."

"Right. Of course," he said bitterly. "But don't tell me you're not avoiding me anymore because I'm actually quite perceptive, and this is avoiding me."

She took a deep breath and ducked her head. "I know," she said quietly.

He leaned in closer to her. "So why won't you talk to me?"

"I can't explain any of it, Killian," she replied. "There are words in my head, and I can't put them together into any kind of thoughts right now. I just need a little patience."

"Patience?" He finally leaned back to match her position. "I can give you patience, Emma. But you can't avoid me forever."

"I won't."

A silence fell between them as they sat together at the kitchen table. If she would just lean back in, maybe he would follow her position. Maybe he would do the same thing and touch her. But Emma was too afraid to reach out.

"Emma?" She looked up to see those big blue eyes staring at her with a mixture of concern and care. He wanted answers, and she understood that, but he seemed to have accepted that they wouldn't be coming tonight. "I'm here whenever you need me, OK?"

_Take a risk, Emma._ She leaned forward and put her hand on the table, palm up, open and inviting. Killian just needed to take it, just reach out for her, just please reach out.

And then he did, his warm hand naturally slipping into hers as he looked up and smiled, and the tension in her body seemed to drain away. She couldn't help but grip his hand a little tighter and smile back at him.

"Thank you, Killian."


	9. Chapter 9

"Henry, can you bring the rest of the plates over from the table?" Emma yelled back at her son.

Henry nodded and started picking up some of the dirty dinnerware with Ruby giving him advice on how to stack everything up properly to minimize the number of return trips he'd have to take. Emma turned to see a big smile spreading across Liam's face.

"You know, at the rate he's going, he could be really useful to us next summer."

"Hey!" Killian said from his place beside his brother. "Are you criticizing my bus boy skills?"

Emma and Liam exchanged a look. Yea, Killian's older brother had gotten to him, and she couldn't help but encourage it.

"All I'm saying, little brother-"

"Younger," Emma and Killian said in unison - although Killian's tone seemed much more serious than Emma's, which gave her an extra bit of glee.

Liam smiled at both of them. "Anyway, I'm just saying that it would give you a chance to do more of that pirate routine you love, and Henry could earn a little extra cash with a summer job."

"That's actually not a bad idea," Emma said. "Hey, kid! Do you want to earn some extra money next summer working for Liam and Killian?"

"That would be awesome!" Henry replied enthusiastically.

"Well, now that that's settled, perhaps it's time for Ruby and I to head home for the night."

Liam gave his girlfriend a knowing smile, and Emma felt a tug of jealousy over how in love they seemed. Of course, Emma could have that if she would only open herself up to someone, particularly a specific someone who was standing right next to her.

They all said their goodbyes to Liam and Ruby before Henry started with his case against going to bed.

"Can't I just stay up a little longer?" he asked. "We already had so much fun, and it isn't a school night. I just want to watch a little more television!"

"Henry-"

"Actually, Swan. If I may interject." Emma turned to see Killian taking a seat on the couch and untying his boots. "If the lad wants to stay up a little later, he can lay down in my bed."

"I don't know."

"Please, Mom!"

Killian stood up and start walking to his room with his boots in his hand. "There's a timer on the TV so you can't just watch it all night. What say you, Swan?"

Two sets of eyes looked towards Emma, and both of them seemed very hopeful that she would say yes.

"Fine."

Henry whooped with joy and went running off to get his pajamas changed in his mom's room. Emma, meanwhile, followed Killian to the back bedroom where he was putting his boots away and pulling off his sweater, his t-shirt riding up just slightly to reveal his toned abs. Not that Emma was paying attention at all.

She cleared her throat slightly to get Killian's attention, and he turned to give her a sheepish grin. "Sorry, Swan. I stepped over my bounds, I know, but it's not a school night."

"Of course, you would say that."

He looked up at her. "What does that mean?"

She gave him a sarcastic smile. "You sound like his friend, so you don't have to be the bad guy here."

Killian nodded his head slightly. "I know, but he's a good kid. He deserves good things sometimes."

"You have a soft spot," she said teasingly. "Since when were you sentimental?"

"I'm not," he replied defensively. "I just wanted to do something nice."

"Uh huh."

Henry came bounding in, quickly pushing his way past Emma and landing squarely on Killian's bed.

"Oi, lad!" Killian huffed. "Get those smelly socks off my sheets!"

Henry obliged, shoving them off and running over to stuff them in his mom's hand before heading back to the bed. Emma looked down in disgust.

"Can you handle that one?" she asked as she turned back to her bedroom without waiting for an answer.

She dropped the socks next to Henry's bag on her floor and went to wash his hands, listening to Killian give instructions to her son on how to operate the television.

"You all set then, lad?" she heard Killian say.

"All set. Good night, Killian!"

"Have a good night, young Henry."

Emma stayed where she was, too afraid to move and break the moment. It was so sweet and gentle and how she imagined a moment like that would be between Henry and his father. Except Killian wasn't his father. And yet, he treated Henry in such an amazing way.

She quietly walked back to her room and changed into some leggings and a big hoodie. Hanging up her clothes from the day, she almost tripped over Henry's fairy tale book on the floor. That crazy book that was still bothering her. She had quite a bit to process that week between the kiss with Killian and that book.

Emma went to check on Henry and, as she had suspected, he was already asleep. Even with the TV on, it hadn't taken long. The Jones brothers seemed to have that kind of effect on Henry's energy. Because really, how could he not be exhausted from the attention they lavished on him? The thought made Emma's heart squeeze a little tighter.

She padded her way into the living room where Killian had sat down on the couch, his feet propped up on the coffee table and the television on.

"Hey, Killian?"

"Hm?" he said, not raising his eyes to meet hers.

"Um, can we talk for a second?"

His head quickly snapped up to her, and she almost regretted asking considering how intense he became.

"Yea, sure," he said. "We can always talk."

She stuffed her hands into the pockets of her hoodie and put her head down. "You care about Henry, right?"

"I care about him alot, Emma."

She just nodded and walked to her room, grabbing the book off the floor and heading back into the living room with it.

The television was off and Killian was standing now, waiting for her to come back but still seeming unsure about what was going on. She hugged the book close to her chest, not sure if this is what she should be doing. But she wanted to be honest with him, and this was one of the things she needed to be honest about.

"Earlier this week, do you remember when I told you I was dealing with some things?"

He nodded and motioned for her to sit down, then followed suit by taking a spot next to her on the couch. She turned and gave him a slight smile that he returned, giving her the courage to continue on.

She put the book on the table. "This is one of those things."

Killian didn't look skeptical or condescending. He just looked at the book and then back up to her. "Once Upon a Time?"

"It's a fairy tale book," she said quickly. "And it has some odd stories in it."

"Odd?" he asked. "I'm sorry, I'm not following. Why has this been bothering you?"

She took a deep breath, hoping if she just said it fast, the whole thing wouldn't sound so crazy. "It's about an evil queen who curses a bunch of fairy tale characters and sends them here. And they forget who they are or that they used to be fairy tale characters."

Killian shrugged and gave her a lopsided smile. "That actually sounds like a cool story."

"Henry thinks it's real."

His smile faded. "What do you mean?"

Emma rubbed her hand over her face and took another breath. "He thinks Regina is the evil queen who cast the curse, and I'm the savior who is supposed to make everyone remember who they are, and David and Mary Margaret are my parents, and they also happen to be Prince Charming and Snow White, and-"

Killian put a reassuring hand on her arm to stop her and gave it a smile squeeze. "Swan, slow down, OK?"

She nodded.

"So this book is about a cursed town, and Henry thinks it's about us?"

"Right."

Killian got a mischievous grin on his face. "Please tell me that Captain Hook is in there, and please tell me I'm Captain Hook."

Emma's eyes narrowed as she stared at him. "Really?"

He shrugged. "I was just hoping."

She should be upset that he wasn't taking this seriously, or at least not as serious as she was. But instead of saying Henry was delusional or needed to see Dr. Hopper or something, Killian's first reaction was to confirm he was a pirate in a fairy tale story.

"Sorry, Swan," he said sheepishly. "I just got a little excited there."

She felt herself soften towards him. "It's OK. I'm a princess and a savior. Apparently."

"And the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming too," he said. "What other surprises are in there?"

"Do you really want to know?" she asked.

"I really do," he replied earnestly.

Emma took a deep breath and began to tell her story, starting with her fateful trip to the library on Sunday with Henry. How he had pulled the book out and started to explain the whole thing. How he would turn pages and tell these elaborate stories about the illustrations in the book, or pass over sections - "I haven't read that part yet." - before getting animated again about another story. There were dragons and ogres and magic. An elaborate royal wedding. Parents with their daughter Emma.

"Emma?" Killian asked curiously when they had reached that part of the story.

"It's just a coincidence," she said flippantly, trying to assure not only him but herself that it was, in fact, just that.

And when she got to the final pages, to the castle with the purple clouds rolling over the kingdom, Killian looked a bit awestruck trying to process all of it.

"Wow," he said quietly.

"Yea."

He sat up and leaned his elbows on his lanky legs. "So when you abandoned me and the pizza on Sunday night, that was because of this book?"

Emma thought back to that night, to the pieces of paper from Granny's diner with her handwriting that she still didn't remember writing. The note had included mentions of a curse and her parents. The extra piece of paper that clearly said she loved Killian. But there were some parts of that night's story she still couldn't tell him. At least not yet.

"It was because of the book," she said simply.

He smiled and leaned closer to her. "Well, it sounds a bit far-fetched and all, I'll give you that, but there does seem to a bit of truth in there."

"Oh, really?" she asked. "And what truth is that?"

"I can definitely believe that story about you being a princess."

Emma stared at him, not sure if she should chastise him for the cheesy line, admonish him for not being more serious about this, or thank him for the compliment. Frankly, she didn't know what to believe or what to think about any of it. She was sure he was going to laugh at Henry for believing this or laugh at her for possibly believing Henry.

"So you believe Henry? You think this is real?"

He shrugged. "I don't think it's real. I'm just saying there are parts that seem very believable."

"Like what?" Emma asked sarcastically.

"Well, Mary Margaret is kind of a goody two shoes, and a prince and sheriff both have to maintain peace for their kingdoms. Oh, and Regina can definitely be heavy handed with her mayoral duties sometimes."

"And it's easy to believe that I'm Storybrooke's princess."

Killian's face turned serious, and he reached out to run his fingers through her blonde hair. "You're beautiful, Emma, and strong and noble. So yes, I can believe that you're someone's princess."

She scoffed. "I'm no one's princess," she said quietly.

He pulled himself closer to her, his lips so close she could feel his breath. "You're my princess, Emma."

Then Killian's lips were on that spot right under Emma's earlobe that made her moan in pleasure. She could feel his lips turn up in a smile against her neck before he resumed his work, teasing her skin with warm kisses. And then he was kissing her lips, soft and tentatively like their first kiss that night a week ago. But this time, she wasn't afraid to let him in and give him more. She grabbed the front of his shirt, bunching it up in her fists, and pulling him towards her. He took the hint, his hand cupping the back of her neck as he gently laid her on the couch, his body warm and hard as it pressed against her. Dammit, this is what she knew she wanted, so why had she been denying herself for so long? Because she could tell - hell, she knew - that Killian wasn't like Neal. It wasn't just about him. It was about them, together in this moment. And it was a moment she wanted.

She pulled away slightly, opening her eyes to see him staring back at her with a look of trepidation, like he was afraid of what she would say next to push him away. Instead, she reassuringly brushed the palm of her hand against his cheek and smiled at him.

"Maybe we should take this somewhere else," she murmured.

Killian's lips turned into a sexy knowing smile. Without a word, he pulled himself off of her and stood up, his hair disheveled and spiking in all directions, which only made Emma want him more. Then he scooped her off the couch into his arms, and she happily obliged him, snaking her hands around his neck to hold on tight as he carried her to her bedroom.

"I hope you don't mind that I have some less-than-princely thoughts about what to do with you, princess."

She laughed quietly. "Some princesses prefer pirates."

He moaned involuntarily, his chest vibrating under Emma's fingers, making them tingle with anticipation before he quietly closed her bedroom door.

xxx xxx xxx

Emma woke up feeling a chill, which probably wasn't helped by the fact that she wasn't wearing any clothes.

Oh bloody hell, where were her clothes? Why was she naked in her bed?

This was all because of Killian Jones.

She rolled over quickly to realize she was cold because he wasn't there, and she wasn't sure how she felt about that. Emma was definitely the kind of girl who didn't stay around after sex, and she preferred it if the men she brought home were gone in the morning. But Killian wasn't most men. He was her roommate. That would be fine and good and no problem except for the fact that her son was sleeping in the room next door. The last thing she wanted was to have Henry find Killian walking around the apartment without any pants on and wonder why.

And then she heard the two of them laughing in the living room.

Emma took a deep breath and quickly got up, throwing on her sweats before cleaning up anything in her room that may have even hinted at the possibility of Killian sleeping there the night before - and doing so many other things that didn't involve sleeping. She grabbed the random bra that Killian had thrown across the room and tossed everything in her closet.

Then she took a deep breath and opened the door. The smell of fresh coffee and scrambled eggs welcomed her, and she instinctively started making her way to the kitchen.

"Well, well, well. It looks like Sleeping Beauty is awake." She turned to see a smile spread across Killian's face before he quickly turned back to Henry. "Oh! Is there a Sleeping Beauty in the book?"

Henry looked pleased that someone was taking an interest in his book. "She's in here, but I don't think she made it to Storybrooke as part of the curse."

"Of course not," Killian lamented.

"Oh, mom!" Henry called out. "We found someone that looks like you in the book!"

Her head snapped up and she stared at the two boys on the couch. Henry seemed to be so excited as he started flipping through the pages, but Killian's demeanor had quickly changed. He seemed almost uncomfortable about what the boy was going to reveal.

"Here it is!" Henry said, landing on a page with a large illustration.

Emma came around to look over the book with her son. There were two people on the page, looking through some brush that they seemed to be hiding behind. The man was dressed in a tan coat, similar in design to the pirate coat Killian wore on the deck of the Jolly Roger on dinner nights, and the woman was wearing what looked like a blue peasant dress. She had long blonde hair and green eyes - and she looked almost exactly like Emma.

She stared at the page, too stunned to say anything. Just how likely would it be that there would be two people in Henry's book that looked like Killian and Emma?

"Who are those people?" she said quietly.

"They're the ones who got your parents together!"

That was enough to break Emma out of her trance, and she looked up at Henry in surprise. "Wait, what?" she asked.

The boy just smiled. "That's Prince Charles and Princess Leia, which is weird because the only Princess Leia I know is from Star Wars," Henry explained. "Anyway, they helped Snow White fall in love with Prince Charming." He turned and gave her a big smile. "It looks like you, but it's obviously not you because that would've been too far in the past."

"Right," Emma said, not really exactly sure what she was agreeing to.

"And how could you be there to be the one who would introduce your parents to each other?"

"That's what I said!" Killian exclaimed.

Henry shrugged. "It's still weird though. I mean, they do sort of look like the two of you."

Emma quickly glanced at Killian, who seemed a bit perplexed by all of it as well, before her eyes landed on the page again. Because it couldn't be denied: Prince Charles and Princess Leia looked alot like Killian and Emma, which made no sense at all.

Her thoughts were broken by a knock at the door. "Regina's here, kid," she said, hoping there wasn't too much of a note of relief in her voice. "Is your stuff all packed up?"

"Yep!" he said as he grabbed the book of the table. "Killian helped me this morning."

Emma turned and smiled warmly at Killian, just before her son threw his arms around her roommate. "Thanks for reading with me!" he said excitedly.

"Any time, lad," Killian said warmly, returning her son's hug.

"And I promise I'll sleep on the couch next time so you can have your bed."

Killian let go and waved his hand through the air. "It was no trouble. It was just nice to have you here."

Henry gave him a big smile and grabbed his book from the table, hugging it to his chest as he walked over to the bag by the stairs and shoved it in. Then he walked over and hugged his mother tightly. "I'm so glad I got to stay with you."

Emma could feel the emotion bubbling up in her chest. "Me too, kid," she said. "And you know you're welcome anytime."

"I know."

Emma brushed his hair off his forehead and planted a small kiss on it. Then she paused, thinking about the note in her pocket. "Kiss Henry/Break curse." Was anything different this time? Did anything change? She could feel the disappointment settle in her as she realized nothing was out of the ordinary. He was her son, of course, but kissing him didn't break any curse.

Another knock on the door meant it was time for Henry to leave. Emma let go and followed him as he opened the door where Regina was waiting. The women exchanged pleasantries, and Henry gave Emma one last quick wave before the door closed and he was gone.

Emma trudged back into the living room to see Killian had once again settled on the couch, wearing his disheveled clothes from the night before, which he must've picked up off Emma's bedroom floor. His brows were knit with concern and thought as he leaned on his knees with his elbows.

"So," Emma said, breaking the silence before sitting down on the other end of the couch. "You slept here last night?"

A smile teased at the corners of Killian's mouth. "I slept here after I came out of your room early this morning," he explained. "I didn't think it would be prudent to have the boy see me come from your bed."

"Thank you," she said earnestly.

Killian nodded and took a deep breath. "So," he said cautiously. "I guess I really am a cursed prince and not a cursed pirate."

Emma scoffed at him. "You sound disappointed."

Killian laughed, breaking the tension in the room, and moved closer to Emma. "You have no idea how much I wanted to be a pirate, Swan."

She turned and gave him a sarcastic smile. "You do realize that the book isn't real," she said. "We were never there to act as matchmakers for Snow White and Prince Charming."

"Your parents," Killian interjected.

"They are not my parents, which is fine because we weren't there anyway."

"Right. Although it would've been fun if we were," he added wistfully. Emma shook her head and Killian laughed at her. "Oh, come on, Swan," he said teasingly. "I know I look like that dowdy Prince Charles in Henry's book, but you like princes, don't you?"

"I have no idea," she said.

Killian got closer - much closer. His leg was up against hers and she could feel his breath on her ear. "Or would you prefer to be plundered by a pirate again?"

She suddenly felt hot, her skin prickling with energy. "I like nice men," she said quietly.

"Nice men?" he murmured in her ear. "You couldn't make an exception for a scoundrel?"

"I guess it depends on the scoundrel," she replied.

His lips turned into a teasing grin before he leaned in to kiss the tingling skin on her neck, making her moan in pleasure.

"Bloody hell, Swan," he whispered. "I'll be whoever you want as long as I can be with you."

She pulled away slowly and looked into his eyes, dark and dilated and sexy. "I just want you, Killian."


	10. Chapter 10

As each day passed, it became more and more apparent to Emma that Storybrooke is where she belonged. Her relationship with Henry was growing and becoming much better. She was starting to feel closer to him, and Regina had been kind enough to encourage their relationship. In fact, Henry's mothers were actually getting along as they both tried to make sure that he was getting the best he could out of life. Plus, she was making friends in Storybrooke, and she couldn't remember when she was this close to this many people.

And of course, there was Killian. Who knew that her roommate would become more than that? She hadn't been this close to a man since Neal. And unlike her previous disastrous relationship, this one was good. Really good. They would split their time between sleeping in his room or hers. And when Henry stayed over at night, Killian was respectful enough to make sure Henry would find him asleep on the couch in the morning. Her son didn't have to know the truth just yet.

Of course, all of this was clouded by those little pieces of paper that would nag her during random moments. Sometimes when she was out drinking at night with the girls, she'd turn to Mary Margaret and her thoughts immediately snapped to her scrawled handwriting. _My parents are David and Mary Margaret._ Or she would be sitting on the couch watching television with Killian, his blue eyes sparkling, and she could imagine that piece of paper she had hidden in the back of the drawer in her nightstand. _I love Killian Jones._

She had actually once again believed all of those could be possible until she tested them. One night as she was tucking Henry into Killian's bed, she kissed him on the forehead. _Kiss him, break curse._ But as she expected, nothing happened.

And so she was able to push those thoughts further out of her mind and replaced them with new things.

A few weeks after they became more than friends, Killian invited Emma to the Jones brothers' Thanksgiving. It didn't take her long to realize why they had been so successful with their dinner nights on the deck of the Jolly Roger. Emma watched Liam, Ruby and her grandmother move around the kitchen in an orchestrated dance as they cooked the turkey and side dishes while Killian set the most amazing Thanksgiving dinner table she had ever seen. He was like a male Martha Stewart with his centerpieces made with fall leaves and holders for each person's name at their seat at the table.

After seeing her sit there in awe of all of it, he finally put her to work by having her open the wine.

"Try to earn your dinner, Swan," he said with a smirk before kissing her on the lips.

Ruby let out a wolf whistle from the kitchen in response while Liam stared at them. Emma and Killian figured it would be best to not tell anyone about their relationship just yet - and then Killian couldn't help himself with a public display of affection.

"When exactly did this start?" Liam asked.

Killian gave him a big smile. "Right after you moved out."

"So I guess you owe me then, little brother."

"Younger."

Liam rolled his eyes in response. "I think it's only fair that you do the dishes tonight seeing as how you seemed to take full advantage of me moving out of our apartment."

Killian just scoffed. "I was going to do the dishes tonight anyway."

Emma smiled and leaned over, pecking him on the cheek. "I promise to help."

"And I promise to eat all this food if you all don't stop talking," Granny yelled from the kitchen.

They spent three hours sitting at the table eating and drinking before Killian and Emma quickly did the dishes so they could get home to work off some of that dinner with other enjoyable activities. Emma went to bed very content from the food, the friends, and the man who fell asleep next to her.

A month later, she woke up tangled up in her sheets with Killian as the snow gently fell outside on Christmas morning. It was just the two of them in the apartment that morning exchanging gifts that they left under a little two-foot-tall tree on the coffee table. He bought her a keychain that was shaped like a swan - "So you won't forget your keys again." She gave him a mug from the little pawn shop on Main St. She loved the bark of laughter he let out when he pulled it out of the box and saw the word "Captain" on it.

"Liam is going to be so mad when he sees that I have one of these and he doesn't!" he said triumphantly.

That night, they all ended up at Regina's home for dinner and drinks, sitting around the fireplace after Emma and Regina had tucked Henry into bed, surrounded by all his new toys. The warmth in the room wasn't just from the fire but also from the people there. Emma couldn't help but smile. Regina and Robin seemed like a great pair, and he was so good with Henry. Liam and Ruby helped serve up some amazing dessert, working together so easily. And sure, Mary Margaret and David weren't Emma's parents, but she didn't mind pretending that they could've been related. She wouldn't have minded having a family like this.

And when they got home and Killian pulled her close to steal a kiss under the mistletoe he had strategically hung up in their apartment, she didn't mind that either.

Things were going good. Her life was what she had always hoped but never expected it would become. She had friends, family, a man she loved. Life was pretty great.

So when Killian came bounding into the living room one Saturday afternoon in January with a big smile on his face, she couldn't help but smile back.

"You seem rather chipper this afternoon," she said, walking over to kiss him.

He pulled away and gave her a big cheesy grin. "I think you know why, Swan," he said, patting the pocket of his leather coat. "I cleaned out my coat like you asked."

"To find the grocery receipt so I could return that crazy cereal Henry talked you into buying."

His smile only got bigger. "You know that's not it," he added.

Emma actually had no idea, but he was happy, which made her happy, and that was all that counted. Killian stared at her a little longer before giving her another kiss and finally pulling himself away, the smile not leaving his lips.

"I'm headed to the Rabbit Hole to see Liam," he explained. "One of Robin's guys is sick so he's lending a hand tonight."

Emma scoffed. "Will I get a call from David later about giving you a ride home?"

"No need to be catty, Swan," he admonished. "I will be well behaved, and the bartender said he won't over serve me for your sake."

"Make sure you thank Liam for me then," she said with a smile.

"I will!" he said cheerfully and headed out the door. "Don't wait up, love!"

Emma smiled and curled up on the couch with a glass of wine and the television remote. As per house rules, she had 24 hours to clear off some of her shows from the DVR while still making sure Killian's Black Sails episode were saved for them to watch together later. And considering she had no idea what Killian was trying to allude to earlier about his coat, it was best to just distract herself with mindless television. She would figure out what he meant by all of that later.

xxx xxx xxx

The Coat Incident, as Emma started to think of it, seemed to creep more and more into her interactions with Killian, and she couldn't figure out what exactly was going on.

A few days after the first run-in with him and that stupid coat, he surprised her with a romantic dinner at the Italian place down by the docks, making a point to wear the leather motorcycle jacket. Then there was the night she came home from a long day at the station to find him wearing the coat with his leather pirate pants and boots - and nothing else. Just his bare chest under her fingers as he swept her off to his room where they stayed all night without getting much sleep.

But then things began to rapidly change.

"Hey, I'm going out with the girls tonight," Emma announced on Friday as she grabbed her red jacket off the hook by the door.

"The girls?" Killian asked, a look of worry on his face.

Emma stared at him. "Yea, remember? I told you I was going to the Rabbit Hole with them."

His jaw twitched. It was a tick that would appear whenever he was starting to get emotional - either nervous or sad or angry. Emma couldn't tell what it was tonight.

"Killian?" she asked. "Is something going on?"

He shook his head, his stern look quickly replaced by a lopsided smile. "Of course not, love. Why would something be going on?" He walked over and gave her a peck on her forehead. "Have a good time tonight, Swan."

But she didn't have that much fun, worrying about what was on Killian's mind. And she had a right to worry. What started as just a little issue was getting worse. Over the weekend, his sour mood became even more apparent and by Monday night, he was in a full-on funk. There were nights when they slept alone and it was no big deal. Sometimes Emma had an early start at the station or Killian had a late night on the Jolly Roger with his brother. It wasn't unusual occasionally. But that night, when Emma asked Killian which bed they should sleep in, he just shrugged.

"I think I'm going to spend the night alone, Emma," he said with a depressing tone.

He pushed himself off the couch, not even looking at her or giving her a kiss goodnight before sulking off to his bed.

The next morning was more of the same. A quick hand off of some fresh coffee in a travel mug and a "See ya later," before he shuffled into the bathroom, leaving Emma alone in the kitchen with no explanation about what was going on.

Then there was the night when Emma came home to find him in his room alone, watching television by himself.

"Hi," she said as she leaned against the door frame.

"Hey," he mumbled without looking up at her.

"No dinner? Because usually you have dinner for me," Emma said in a light tone - or at least the lightest she could manage under the circumstances.

But Killian just shrugged and stared at the television.

That was it. Emma had it. She crossed her arms and changed her tone damn quick. "You want to tell me what's going on?"

That got Killian's attention and he finally looked up at her, a grim look still on his face. "Maybe I should ask the same question to you," he replied bitterly.

"Well, you can ask, but I won't have an answer for you, because I have no idea what's bugging you."

He stood and took two quick strides to get so close he was uncomfortably invading her personal space. "Really, Swan?" he spat out. "You have no idea what would be bothering me?"

She put her hands on her hips and stood her ground. "I have no idea."

His jaw flexed like it did when he got mad, and he stepped back towards the television stand, opening a drawer on the bottom and pulling out a piece of paper. He held up the little piece and stared at her.

"You want to tell me what this is about?" he asked bitterly.

She took a step forward to reach for it, and as soon as her fingers brushed the paper, she froze. It was green with a jagged edge along one side and a spot for Granny to put the total for someone's bill at the bottom. Emma slowly grabbed it from Killian's grasp, her hand trembling as she pulled it closer.

_Please don't have anything on the back, please don't have anything on the back,_ she thought.

She flipped it over and saw her own handwriting. If she wasn't so in shock, she probably would've dropped it on the floor. But instead, she stared at it.

"Emma!"

Her head snapped up from the paper to see Killian's intense blue eyes on her.

"What?"

"I asked you if you wanted to explain this," he said.

"I- I can't," she stammered.

"You can't?" he asked incredulously. "That's your handwriting, isn't it?"

Emma started at the paper. Dammit, it was her handwriting, but she didn't remember writing that.

"I-"

"You what, Emma?"

She looked up at him, the fire in his eyes getting darker. She hated what she was about to do next, hated what she was about to say, but it was the only way to figure out what the hell was going on.

"I have to go."

She stormed out of his bedroom and quickly headed into hers, her hand flying to the drawer of her nightstand. Emma knew exactly where she had stashed what she was looking for and quickly grabbed the papers, stuffing them in the coat pocket she had originally found them. She added Killian's piece of paper as well.

"Emma, where you going?"

She didn't say a word, just grabbed her keys with her swan keychain off the kitchen counter where she had left them.

"Emma!"

She couldn't listen to him. She knew she was hurting him, but she just couldn't tell him yet. And to be honest, she couldn't admit it to herself. So like she had done most of her life, she ran.

The cold air was the perfect balm to her hot skin as she climbed in her car and sped away. But after driving only a block, she pulled over to the curb and put her trusty yellow bug in park.

Emma took a deep breath, steeling herself for what was to come. She slowly reached into the pocket of her coat and pulled out the pieces of paper. The first one on top was the full diner check she had apparently written on the back of even though she had no recollection of doing so.

"I belong in Storybrooke/

My parents are Mary Margaret and David/

Henry is my son/

Kiss him, break curse"

She gently set it aside in the passenger seat and focused on the two other pieces of paper in her hand. The green on the diner checks was a little duller under the street lights, but the jagged edges on them were still clear. The tear on Emma's part of her check fit neatly together with the tear on the piece Killian had given her. Her hands trembled as she turned the top half over, the half that she had found in her coat pocket all those months ago.

"I love Killian Jones"

Then she turned over the second half, the half in her handwriting that she had supposedly written for Killian.

"Emma Swan loves you"


	11. Chapter 11

It had started to rain by the time Emma pulled up in front of Regina's house. She had already been driving aimlessly around Storybrooke for a few hours. It was time for her to suck it up and deal with whatever this weirdness was.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and sent a text to Regina. _Is Henry asleep? Would like to talk to you._

_We can talk_ , Regina texted back.

_I'm right outside._

She climbed out of the car and started walking up the door just as Regina opened it.

"That was quick," she said.

Emma just shrugged. "I've been driving around for a bit."

Regina gave her a worried look. "Come on in."

Emma dragged herself through the door, wiping a few drops of water off her leather coat as Regina closed it behind her.

"Why don't we talk in the study?" Regina suggested as she led Emma into the wood-paneled room and shut the door. "Do you want something to drink?"

"Do you have something strong?"

Regina nodded and brought over two tumblers of amber liquor, handing one to Emma. The women drank in silence as Emma warmed up, thankful that Regina had a fire going already. Emma started to look around at the shelves - something she hadn't really paid attention to when she was in here the first time on the night that she dropped Henry off.

"You have an amazing collection of books."

"Thank you," Regina replied. "But please don't tell me you're stopping by this late to talk to me about my book collection."

Emma took a drink from her glass to give herself some extra courage, because she was going to need it. "Actually, I'm here to talk to you about one book in particular."

Regina put her glass down and leaned over, a curious look on her face. "I'm listening," she said with curiosity.

"It's about Henry's storybook."

"Is this about the curse?"

"Yea, it is."

A huge smile spread across Regina's face."You have no idea how long I've been waiting for you to remember."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

The woman gave her a perplexed look. "The curse. You finally remembered we were cursed." Regina stared at her, and then slumped back a bit. "You don't actually remember the curse, do you?"

Emma could feel her hands trembling as she stared at Regina, realizing just how disappointed the woman seemed to be that she had no idea what was going on.

"Are you-" Emma swallowed down her emotions. "Are you telling me the curse is real?" she asked quietly.

Regina sat up and looked directly at her. "The curse is real," she said with a small smile on her lips. "And I guess Gold really did copy my curse, even down to me being the only one who remembers."

"What are you talking about?" Emma asked incredulously.

"Gold was the man who cast the curse," she said. "And you don't remember it even though you were there."

"I was where?"

"Main St.," Regina said. "You were standing right next to me as we used our magic to try and stop it."

Emma scoffed. "I don't know magic."

"Oh, believe me. The Savior knows magic."

"The what?" Emma exclaimed. "You've lost your mind. I'm no one's savior."

Regina just shook her head. "I was really hoping you were just pretending all this time and that sooner or later, you would come clean and we could talk about what happened." She looked down, her voice quiet. "You were the only one I thought would understand what I was going through, and you can't even do that."

She turned and gave Emma a weak smile before standing up and walking past her towards a large mahogany desk behind them. She opened a drawer and pulled out Henry's storybook, setting it down on the coffee table in front of them as she took a seat next to Emma.

"So what made you think the curse was real?" she asked.

Emma stared at the book, then back up at her. Rather than saying anything, she instinctively reached inside her coat to grab the pieces of paper she had stashed inside the pocket and laid them on top of the storybook. Regina smiled and picked them up.

"I wondered what you had written on those," she said as she read them. "This one in particular." She held up the piece of paper Killian had found in his coat pocket. "I saw the smile Hook gave you after he read it and stuffed it back in his pocket."

"Hook?" Emma asked.

"Hook. You know, Captain Guyliner?" Regina said before rolling her eyes. "Right, you don't remember that you had a one-handed pirate for a boyfriend."

Regina handed the pieces of paper back to her, and Emma gently put them back in the safe spot inside her coat.

"You need to read this," Regina instructed, pointing to the book on the table.

"I already have," Emma said. "Henry loves that thing."

Regina shook her head in reply. "This isn't Henry's book," she explained. "He has an old version of the book. This is the new one, the one with the stories Henry wrote."

"The stories Henry wrote?" Emma asked incredulously.

"Just read the book, Emma," Regina said. "I'm going to bed. Stay here as long as you need to."

With that, Regina got up and walked over to the fireplace. With a flick of her wrist, the fire went out. At least that's what Emma thought she saw. It had already been a long night, and there was no way in hell that Regina put out a fire with magic or something.

"Good night, Emma," Regina said as she headed for the door. "Henry will be up early tomorrow as usual, but let's wait until after he's left for school before we talk about this again."

Emma nodded before watching Regina walk out the door. Then it was just her and the book.

The book. This was silly, crazy, even ridiculous. Emma felt like she still wasn't alone in the room, like the book had a personality of its own that was keeping her company. It was as if it was a living, breathing thing, which wasn't even possible. Her hands slid along the cover, the gold letters pressed into the dark brown leather. It was so strange and unusual. So different and yet familiar.

Her thoughts were broken by the sound of her phone ringing in her pocket, and she pulled it out to see Killian's name flash up on the screen. She already ran enough tonight. It was time to stop running, even if for a little bit.

"Hey," she said quietly into the phone.

"Hi." She could hear the concern and sweetness in his voice - two things that were missing a few hours ago when they yelled at each other. "I was just calling to see if you were alright."

"I'm fine."

He let out a breath so loud that she could hear it through the phone. "I was just worried about you," he said. "Are you going to be home soon?"

She stared down at the thick book in front of her. "I'm actually going to stay at Regina's tonight, but I promise I'll be back tomorrow."

The silence between them seemed to stretch out for hours before Killian finally spoke again. "Emma?" he said quietly. "I'm sorry about earlier."

She could feel the tension seeping from her shoulders. "I'm sorry, too."

"OK," he said. "Well, I'll let you go then. And call me if you need anything."

"I will."

"I just-" He paused, and Emma hung on, waiting for whatever he was about to say next. "Good night, Emma."

"Good night."

As she hung up the phone, she would never admit that she was hoping he would say something else to her. An "I miss you" or "I love you" would've been… Well, it would be hard to explain the feeling. Instead, she just told him good night and hung up.

Emma dropped the phone on the table and picked the storybook up, hoping that there could be some sort of answers to her questions within its covers. Because right now, Emma had a lot of questions.

She turned to the first page with an illustration of a woman who looked like Regina waking up in her bedroom and started reading.

xxx xxx xxx

The alarm on Emma's phone jolted her awake, sending the open storybook tumbling to the floor. She immediately shut off the loud alarm and started looking around, trying to get her bearings and figure out where exactly she was.

The pain in her neck wasn't helping.

Emma sat up on the sofa as the room came into focus. Regina's office. She sighed, somewhat thankful that this time it wasn't a jail cell.

Then she spotting the storybook she had dumped onto the floor. After reading it way into the night, and even working on only a few hours of sleep, there was no denying it. Just like the rest of this town, Emma Swan was cursed.

She got up and slid the book into the desk drawer she had seen Regina pull it out of the night before. Then she grabbed her coat and dashed into the hall bathroom, hoping she could straighten herself up enough to make her look presentable.

The house was quiet downstairs, but she could hear voices and movement on the second floor, including one distinctly belonging to Henry. Even though she had been reunited with her son only a few months ago, she would recognize that morning whine anywhere.

Emma started working in the kitchen, getting a fresh pot of coffee brewing. The coffee maker beeped in approval just as Henry and Regina came bounding down the stairs.

"Mom!"

Henry threw his arms around Emma so quickly she barely had time to react, but her natural instinct to hug him back soon kicked in as she ruffled Henry's unruly hair.

"Hey, kid," she replied. "You almost ready for school?"

"Yea," he said. "Although why are you here?"

She chuckled. "Always straight to the point, aren't you?" she asked. "I wanted to talk to your mom about some things and figured I would get here early so I could say goodbye before you left for school."

Henry gave her a warm smile and grabbed the fruit bar Regina had given him. "It was a good surprise."

"And now it's over," Regina said curtly. "So get going before you miss the bus."

Henry gave Emma a quick peck on the cheek before running over and doing the same for Regina. Then he sprinted out of the kitchen, followed quickly by the front door slamming behind him.

"Coffee?" Regina asked.

"Yes, please," Emma said as she sank down on one of the stools along the kitchen counter.

The mayor poured two mugs of coffee and handed one to the sheriff. "So long night?"

Emma gave her a weak smile and drank her coffee. "I read most of the book before I fell asleep with it."

"Most of it?"

Emma shrugged. "I honestly skipped some of it. It just got too depressing."

Regina's eyebrows went up in surprise behind her coffee cup. "Like what?" she asked.

Emma stared down into her mug. Where could she even start? Maybe the part where her parents hadn't really abandoned her. Or the part where everyone was miserable when the curse was first enacted. Or maybe it was the fact that she had fallen in love with someone and didn't remember any of their relationship.

"So just to be clear, Killian Jones, my roommate, is a cursed version of Captain Hook?"

Regina nodded.

"And we went to the Underworld to save him after he saved us?"

The mayor shrugged. "I know it all sounds far-fetched, but it's true," she said.

"I guess that's what bothers me the most."

Regina scoffed. "Why? Because it's hard to believe that this is all actually a curse?"

Emma shook her head. "If the curse is real, that means that Killian loves me and my parents love me, and I don't remember any of it." She looked up at Regina, hoping to get some sort of guidance. "How can I not remember any of that?"

Regina took a deep breath and walked around the kitchen island, taking a seat next to Emma on the stools. "I understand that more than you know," she said quietly. "I loved Henry and Robin, and I had finally started to become a better person. No one remembers that now."

A better person? That was another part of the story that had bothered Emma. She drank some more, hoping to build up the courage to ask what she wanted to ask next.

"With the first curse, the one you enacted, everyone was miserable."

Regina adverted her eyes, instead watching her fingers drift over her mug handle. "They were, and that was because of me, but things changed," she explained. "Even I changed."

"What happened?"

She looked up and smiled at Emma. "You happened."

"I happened?"

"You were this town's savior, and then you became mine," she explained. "You believe in people who don't believe in themselves. That's why all this is so frustrating."

Emma gave her a skeptical look. "What do you mean?"

"It's like the first curse, Emma. You believe in other people, but the only way you can break the curse is if you believe in yourself." Regina poked Emma in the shoulder. "You have to believe in you."

Emma got up and walked over to the sink to put her empty mug down. It was a good distraction from everything going on in her head. How could she be the savior if she was having trouble simply believing in all this? And really, if she was being honest with herself, she was no savior. There was no reason to think otherwise.

"You know, I've already tried to break the curse and it didn't work."

"What are you talking about?"

Emma turned around to face Regina and leaned against the counter. "After I found those pieces of paper, I kissed Henry. You came to pick him up in the morning, and I kissed him on the forehead and nothing happened."

Regina clasped her hands together on the counter. "Maybe it's someone else. Have you um…" Her voice trailed off and she looked up to give Emma a nervous smile. "What about Killian?"

Emma scoffed. "I've kissed him," she said dismissively. "Alot. Nothing happened. Well, I mean, nothing happened curse wise."

Regina's hands went up. "Please don't say anymore," she said quickly. "Let's just leave it at the fact that I know you know now, and I'll see if there's something we can do to jumpstart your whole savior magic."

"Magic?"

The mayor rolled her eyes. "Yes, you have magic. Not that you can use it right now since you don't believe you have magic," she said.

She stood up and took her mug to the sink, then gently placed her hand on Emma's arm. "Are you going to be OK?"

"I'm the savior," Emma said sarcastically. "So no pressure."

"Emma, I'm serious."

Emma stepped away from Regina and walked over to grab her coat from the kitchen counter. "I'll be fine," she said. "I just need some time."

Regina nodded solemnly and followed Emma as the two women headed for the front door. But there was a question still nagging Emma.

"Regina?", she asked, looking up at the mayor. "If everyone was miserable because you made them miserable after that first curse, why are people happy now?"

"What do you mean?"

"So in the book about your curse, everyone had to pay Mr. Gold rent, but no one pays rent now. People are doing jobs they like, and they have relationships with people they love. Everything here is nice. Everyone here is happy. So how did that happen if this villain from the book enacted the new curse?"

Regina smiled. "I can't tell you how frustrating it is to see you be the savior even when you don't realize you're the savior," she said. "When Gold's curse came through, we tried to stop it. Did you get to that part of the book?"

"Yea," she said. "But if the book is right, we didn't succeed."

The mayor shook her head. "I told you that day to think positive thoughts, and you did. You used light magic to try and stop the curse," she explained. "And while it may not have been strong enough to stop it, it was strong enough to prevent the curse from doing what it was supposed to. Which, of course, once again makes you the savior."

That was quite the explanation and there was no way Emma had that kind of power in her. "I'm not the sunshine-and-rainbows type you're making me out to be."

Regina walked up to Emma and looked her right in the eyes. "What did I tell you about believing in yourself, Emma?" Then she headed to the front door with Emma following her. "I'll work on our problem and in the meantime, see if you can get some work done on it as well."

Emma nodded and quietly walked out without another word to Regina. She headed down the front walkway and climbed into her car still parked out on the street. Pulling her phone from her pocket, she sent two text messages. The first one was to David to let him know she wouldn't make it to the sheriff's station until after lunch. The second one was to Killian, letting him know she was on her way home.

xxx xxx xxx

As soon as she opened the door, Emma was hit by the smell of Killian's famous cinnamon waffles. She couldn't help but smile as she hung her coat on the wall. But the smile faded a bit when she realized what she needed to do: tell Killian the truth. And the best way to do that was to start with the pieces of paper from Granny's.

For as nervous as she thought she would be, as soon as Killian turned around and smiled at her, she couldn't help but walk over to him.

"Hey, Swan," he murmured as her put his arms around her waist and pulled her close.

This is what she had missed this past week as Killian walked around in a funk. She missed being close to him and just having him hold her. She missed this connection that they had and then lost.

Emma pulled away and looked at him, her hand instinctively reaching for his cheek, her thumb tracing the scar there. She wondered where he really got it, if it came from him horsing around with Liam when they were kids or if it was from his days as a pirate. Emma knew it sounded crazy and wild, but as she thought about Killian being Captain Hook in some other life, it just seemed like a natural, normal idea.

"So," he said, clearing his throat as he pulled away with a shy smile. "Do you want some waffles? I promise they're fresh."

"I need to talk to you first."

Killian put his hand up to stop her from continuing. "Before you go on, I want to explain last night," he said, taking a deep breath. "I was a bit hurt and I didn't handle it well, I know. It was just frustrating that you told me you loved me in that note and then never acknowledged it."

"I didn't know."

"And that's my fault," he said. "I should've said something when I found your note."

"No, I mean, I didn't know about the note." Emma sighed. This wasn't going to be easy, but she needed to do this for him. "You know how Henry thinks there's this curse on the town?"

Killian scoffed. "What does that have to do with anything?"

She swallowed down the emotion bubbling up in her throat. "I need to explain some things to you," she said quietly. "But just understand, I can only tell you the basics?"

Killian stared at her before nodding. Emma pulled out the pieces of paper, laying them on the kitchen counter and watched as he leaned forward to read them. Emma could see his jaw go slack, realization washing over him as he read each word on the papers.

"I belong in Storybrooke/  
My parents are Mary Margaret and David/  
Henry is my son/  
Kiss him, break curse"

"I love Killian Jones"

"Emma Swan loves you"

She moved closer to him, her hand gently reaching for his as she leaned into him. "Killian, the curse is real."


	12. Chapter 12

Mary Margaret knew how to throw a dinner party and did so with ease, even though there were all her cramped loft.

Seven people surrounding Emma whom she had come to consider friends and people she cared about. Seven people who accepted her in a way that no one had ever accepted her before.

Seven people who had no idea who they really were. Well, less than that actually. Regina knew about the curse and who she had been before it had engulfed the town. Of course, that was all assuming there was a curse in the first place.

And then there was Killian. Emma looked over at him and smiled, and he gave her a warm look in return. For the past few weeks, he also knew there was a curse on the town - or at least he knew what Emma told him. But she didn't tell him much - at least not yet - and thankfully he didn't push.

And that's how they got to this point. Killian off with the guys - David, Robin and his brother, Liam - while Emma quietly chatted with the women in the small sitting area of David and Mary Margaret's loft, drinking wine and having a nice night out with friends.

Regina pulled her phone out of her pocket and checked it again, something she had been doing every few minutes.

"Still nothing?" Emma asked apprehensively.

"Still nothing," Regina said as she quietly slipped it back in her pocket. "I know I shouldn't be nervous to leave Henry alone at home. He's old enough now and this is a safe town so he's going to be fine. It's just a strange feeling."

Emma smiled and gave the woman's arm a light squeeze. "I know," she said quietly. "Believe me, I know. We're just going to have to deal with worrying about him without him knowing that we're worrying."

"This mother thing isn't easy," Regina said.

"Don't worry," Ruby interjected. "If Henry ends up having a big party or something, the first people the neighbors are going to call are all right here. The town will be fine."

Emma noticed Regina stare at Ruby and almost felt compelled to do the same. But instead, she just took a deep breath and reminded herself that Henry really was a big kid, and he was going to be fine.

Besides, Mary Margaret was loudly clearing her throat from the other end of the couch. "Speaking of children," she said, looking over at David, who was staring back at her.

David stood up and in a loud voice said, "Can I have everyone's attention for a quick moment?" All eyes looked towards him as Mary Margaret stood and took her place next to her husband. "Mary Margaret and I invited you all here tonight so we could share some good news with you."

"We're going to be parents!"

A cheer went up from their friends and congratulations started to spill from everyone, although Emma felt a bit reserved with hers. If the curse was real, Mary Margaret and David already were parents. Her parents. She couldn't pinpoint if it was a small pang of jealously or longing or something that was tugging on her. But she decided to push it down for her friends and try to enjoy the moment.

"So when is the baby due?" Ruby asked excitedly.

David and Mary Margaret exchanged a quick glance between them before turning back to their friend. "Well," David said slowly. "He's actually already here. We've decided to adopt."

"Mother Superior came to visit the school a few weeks ago and said they had an orphaned boy who needed a home. And since David and I were already thinking about starting a family, we decided to give this little boy a home."

David smiled down at his wife as she looked back up at him. "So that's what we're going to do. And by next week, baby Neal will be ours."

Emma felt the room spin and closed her eyes to try and regain her bearings. Neal? She had read about the baby in the book that Regina had given her, but she couldn't bring herself to believe that part of the story. Now, she was faced with the reality and she was having trouble handling it.

She felt Killian's hand grab onto her arm to give her some support. "Love, are you OK?"

Emma looked up to see him staring at her, her friends behind him all looking a bit apprehensive at her physical turn.

"Oh, wow," she said, quickly trying to regain her bearings. "How embarrassing. I guess between the wine and the excitement of the new baby, I got a little light headed."

"Here, why don't you sit down?" David said gently as he started to reach for a chair.

"No!" All eyes turned to Regina with her outburst. "I mean, no. Perhaps it would be best for Emma to get some fresh air and clear her head. Maybe Killian could take her for a walk."

He nodded from his place beside her. "I think that may be a good idea," he said quietly.

David grabbed her coat from the rack by the door while Emma slowly made her way to Mary Margaret and gave her a hug. "I'm just so excited for you," she said. "You're going to make a great mother."

"Thank you, Emma."

"I don't know, Swan. I think she over served you a bit. Not good mom material, is it?" Killian gave her a teasing smile. "Actually, it was probably my brother's fault now that I think about it."

"Probably!" Liam exclaimed. "Sorry, Emma. Guess that means you'll still be a good mother, Mary Margaret. Just don't ask me to baby sit."

The group laughed, and Emma played along as best she could as she said her goodbyes and more congratulations.

"And the rest of you better be leaving soon too!" Killian bellowed. "Let these two get some sleep before the baby comes home, and they forget what sleep is."

Everyone nodded and smiled kindly as they started towards the door and began to get ready to leave. Everyone except Regina, who seemed to be a bit unnerved by the whole situation, although Emma wasn't sure if that was because of the baby announcement or Emma's reaction to it. She suspected it was a bit of both.

But Emma wasn't going to stick around to find out. She had already started to head down the stairs, straining to get down as fast as she could without looking suspicious. Regina was right though - the cool air hitting her lungs when she got outside was exactly what she needed to wipe away the light-headed feeling that had come over her. But her thoughts still remained.

"You ready, love?" Killian asked from behind her.

Emma only nodded. Before he could reach a hand towards her or offer his arm, she shoved her hands in her coat pockets and began to walk home, hoping he would take the hint and follow her.

He did.

For the entire ten-minute walk, they were silent. The only sound Emma could hear was her feet against the pavement, that is if she was listening for any sounds. Her mind wouldn't allow her to be distracted from the thoughts racing through her.

She remembered reading about Henry's father, Neal. Sort of. There were parts that she skipped that were too painful for her to read in Regina's book. Neal's death was one of them. She wasn't sure how exactly he died, but he was considered a hero. So much so, in fact, that her parents had named their son after him.

And then there was the issue of her parents - well, alleged parents. They were so happy to be adopting this baby, but what about her? What happened when she was born? If Henry's fairy tale book was to be believed, they wanted the best shot for her, but she ended up spending years bouncing from foster home to foster home. And now they were opening their home to an orphaned boy who was actually their son? Where did that leave her in all of this?

Despite that, despite the craziness and the confusion and the embarrassing incident at the loft when she almost fell over in shock… Despite all of that, Killian was still walking beside her. He wasn't pushing her for information or asking her questions. He already knew her well enough to know exactly how to respond to her in this moment and for that, she was more than grateful.

He gently pulled her out of her thoughts with a hand on her lower back to direct her up the stairs to their apartment. He opened the door for her, helped her out of her red leather jacket, and let her wander away into her bedroom by herself. She just needed to sit in her own space, but that didn't mean she had to sit alone. She had left the door open just in case Killian wanted to come in. But instead, she just heard him getting something to drink and grabbing food out of the kitchen cupboard. Maybe that wasn't so bad either. After the night she had, perhaps some quiet time by herself would be a good idea.

And then he appeared in the doorway of her bedroom with gifts.

"I thought maybe you would like some water after you got lightheaded earlier," he said, handing her a cup of cold water. Then he reached down to grab the box of cookies he had tucked under his arm. "And just in case you need to boost your low blood sugar."

He smiled and dropped the box on the bed in front of her, followed by dropping himself on it as well. Then he leaned over her to put his water on her night stand and opened up the box, giving her first pick of what was inside.

"Thank you," she said quietly, and he gave her a gentle nod in response before grabbing his own.

"So, do you want to talk about what happened back at the loft?"

She shrugged. "Not really."

"Emma," he said, putting his cookie back in the box to stare at her. "Don't hide from me like this."

She could've protested and told him she wasn't hiding, but the truth was that she was, and she realized in that moment that perhaps it would be OK to let Killian in. After all, she had been letting little pieces of him into her heart already.

"I just don't know where to start," she said, looking up to give him a sad smile.

He smiled back, encouraging her on. "Can I ask you a question?" She nodded. "So Neal? The baby David and Mary Margaret are adopting. Is it just a coincidence that he has the same name as Henry's father?"

Emma shook her head no.

"Why do they have the same name?" he asked apprehensively.

She took a deep breath. "He came to Storybrooke and found us," she explained. "He died trying to save us. He died a hero. And so Mary Margaret and David named their son after Neal."

Killian looked away from her, staring at the wall instead. "You got that from Regina's other book?"

"Yes."

It was the first time since she had told him the curse was real that he actually asked her about the book. She didn't know what exactly she was allowed to tell him, and how much she could tell him without affecting the past or the future. Regina had warned her about giving out too much information about what was in the book when the curse hadn't been broken yet. And sure enough, Regina was right. What would she have said to explain her reaction at the loft tonight? How would she tell Mary Margaret and David that they were adopting their own son? That she was their daughter?

No, Regina was right. If she kept it to herself, it would be best for everyone - at least until she found a way to break the curse. And yet, here was Killian, sitting on her bed, and she felt compelled to let him in.

But she could see the toll it was having on him. His shoulders slumped over as he tried to take in this new information about Henry's father being a hero for the town.

Emma put her hand on his knee, willing him to finally look up at her. "What are you thinking?" she asked.

Killian sighed, his shoulder slumping even more. "How did the man who once left you and his son in the hands of the cops become a hero, and I never did?"

She smiled at him and moved closer to him. "You were my hero, Killian," she said. "You saved me."

He gave her a sarcastic smile. "Emma, I'm no one's hero."

"Killian, you traded your ship for me."

His stormy blue eyes snapped up and locked on to hers, searching for some answer to explain what she had just told him. "I don't understand."

"There was another curse-"

"Wait, another curse?" He looked shocked.

"It's… complicated," she said flippantly. "Anyway, things happened and I needed to be reunited with my family to save them. And you traded the Jolly Roger to get to me. That's how much you loved me."

A smile started to pull at the corners of his mouth, and then he couldn't keep it in check. It started to reach the blues of his eyes, turning them warm for just a split second before stopping.

"Wait," he said apprehensively. "Does something bother you about that?"

She shrugged. "Regina said that I can break this curse with true love's kiss. But I've kissed you before - alot - and nothing's happened."

He reached for her hand and squeezed it gently. "Emma, your note said you have to kiss Henry to break the curse." A teasing smile began to spread across his face. "But you know, if you want to keep kissing me and see if one of those can work on this curse, I would never object."

"More of that pirate innuendo."

"There's no innuendo there, Emma," he said in a low voice.

"I just-"

She stopped. She just what? What was still bothering her about all this? She knew exactly what it was, but putting it into words scared her. Instead, she gently pulled her hand away from Killian and stood up, walking towards the windows of her bedroom to stare out the bay. To stare at the Jolly Roger, the ship Killian had called home for centuries and gave up to find her.

"No one has ever loved me enough to make that kind of sacrifice for me," she said. "So if you loved me that much, why can't I remember it?"

There was silence in her room with no response from Killian, and that scared her. She had put herself out there and this was the response she got from him. Nothing.

She closed her eyes, trying to calm the terror that was bubbling up inside her.

And then she heard him move. She opened her eyes and could see his reflection in the glass pane of the window as he pulled himself off the bed and walked towards her. His arms snaked around her waist, and he rested his chin on her shoulder, his breath warm on her neck.

"Emma, it doesn't matter if there's really a curse or not," he said quietly. "I love you now. And I know it's still hard for you to accept that, and that's OK. I guess I'll just have to be your hero in this life as well."

She turned around in his arms and looked up at him. "Thank you."

Emma stood up on her tiptoes and kissed him with more love and compassion than she ever had before. It still wasn't enough to break the curse. But tonight, in her room with Killian standing beside her and not questioning her sanity or pushing her to dig deeper into her feelings, tonight with Killian letting her be who she was with her faults and her walls, tonight just kissing him like this was enough.

She would focus on breaking the curse on Storybrooke another day. Tonight, her only focus would be on Killian Jones.


	13. Chapter 13

Even if the warmer weather hadn't started to move into Storybrooke, Emma would still know spring was in the air. Henry told her everyday.

"Mom! Liam said we can take the Jewel out in two weeks if it's warm enough, and I think it will be."

A huge smile would spread across his face and he would get a gleam in his eye. Then he would start talking about the Jewel again - he never called it a boat or a ship. No, it was always the Jewel. Liam was going to let him steer it and hoist the sail. Maybe Killian would help him throw the anchor overboard since it was really heavy and he wasn't sure he could do it on his own. And Henry couldn't wait to see what Ruby would whip up for them for lunch in the red picnic basket she had bought Liam during the offseason.

The two weeks became a week and then days and hours. Henry had made sure that she was well aware of when it was time for him to head out on the seas for the first time with his vast amount of sailing knowledge from the Jones boys.

But as Emma walked down to the dock that morning holding Killian's hand, she wasn't so sure. "Remember, Henry is just a kid. This is his first time on the water."

Killian gave her a warm but understanding smile. "I remember, Swan. Just like I've remembered the other 15 times you told me." He pulled her hand up and kissed the back of it. "Don't worry. Liam and I will make sure Henry is safe. OK?"

Emma looked at the blue eyes staring at her and smiled. "OK."

"Killian! You're just in time!" Henry came running over and grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the Jewel with Emma barely keeping up. "Liam already had me help him get the sails ready. I'm so excited!"

"I can hardly tell." Killian looked over at Emma and laughed as he was pulled closer to the sailboat.

Regina was waiting on the dock with a smile on her face. "Has Henry mentioned that he's looking forward to this trip?"

"A little bit," Emma said.

Henry gave them a quick goodbye before his mothers watched as he bounded his way onto the Jewel where Liam was waiting on deck and started to direct him where to go. Killian turned and gave Emma a peck on the cheek.

"See ya soon, Swan," he said. "I love you."

She ducked her head and leaned in close. "Love you, too."

Emma watched as Killian took off the ropes mooring the sailboat to the dock and jumped on as the Jewel set sail for open waters. She knew she was just being an overprotective mother. Henry really was in safe hands with the Jones brothers.

"Wow, he really is growing up so quickly," Emma said wistfully.

"You headed to the sheriff's station?"

Emma nodded and the two women fell into step next to each other as they turned their back on the harbor.

"I wanted to talk to you about the curse," Regina said. "I think I may have found a way to have you break it."

Emma turned to make sure no one else was around before continuing the conversation. "So what do you need to do so I can break the curse?"

Regina shook her head. "I can't do anything. It's all about you," she explained. "In order for you to break it, you have to believe in magic. Gold knew how hard it was for you to believe in magic - even your own - so he made it a challenge."

She scoffed. Believe? That was easier said than done. "And how exactly am I going to do that?"

Regina shrugged. "That's for you to figure out, Emma." She gently grabbed Emma's arm and gave it a squeeze. "But the sooner you accept that you are the Savior with magic, the sooner all of us can have our lives back." Then she turned her back and headed the other direction down Main St. towards the mayor's office.

Emma walked the last block to the sheriff's station, her mind in a bit of a haze. Even IF she was the Savior and IF she had magic, how would believing it be able to break the curse? And what would happen once she broke it? What would happen to this life she had built with Killian and Henry and her friends? She wasn't sure if the cursed version of herself was better or worse than the not cursed version - and she wasn't sure if she wanted to find out.

Luckily, David was more than happy to load her up with work at the station that distracted her from her thoughts about the curse. She pushed files around on her desk and paperwork from one box to another. It was just another quiet day in Storybrooke… until it wasn't.

Emma heard her stomach growling right around lunch time - the same time she started thinking about a big pile of onion rings. But just as she was about to grab her coat, the emergency line for the sheriff's station began to ring.

David grabbed it before she could get there, and Emma watched as he took the call, his face becoming more pale as he asked the person on the other end of the line for details. She couldn't hear what he was saying in his office, but based on the look on his face, it wasn't good. He hung up the phone and looked at her, terror in his eyes, before he swiftly grabbed his coat off the back of his chair.

"Let's go!" he yelled at her as he quickly moved towards the door.

"Go? Go where?" Emma was following quickly behind him, but barely quick enough to keep up. "What happened, David?"

He turned to her, his face etched with panic as he reached for her hand. "It's about Henry," he said. "We have to go now."

xxx xxx xxx

Emma watched from the dock, her eyes scanning the horizon for any sign of the Jewel of the Realm. She was so focused on the water that she didn't even hear Regina's arrival until the mayor was right next to her barking in her ear.

"What the hell is going on?" Regina bellowed as he stomped down the dock.

"We're just waiting for them to get here," David said. "And the ambulance is on its way."

Regina turned to stand stoic next Emma as the mothers looked out on the harbor. "Explain to me again what Killian said on the phone."

Emma took a deep breath, keeping her eyes focused ahead of her. "Killian said the boat was hit by a rogue wave, and knocked Henry unconscious. I'm sure it's going to be fine."

Emma took a deep breath. She really had no idea if it was going to be fine or not. That was what she had decided to tell herself, and not worry about it's accuracy until she could assess the situation with her own eyes.

Then she finally saw the mast of the Jewel. Or at least part of the mast. It looked like it had been broken in half with the craft sputtering along on its not very powerful on-board motor. She could see Killian at the helm behind the wheel with Liam clutching at his arm, trying to keep it still.

"Where's Henry?" Regina snapped. "Can you see him?"

"Not yet."

Regina huffed. "Henry said he was ready for this. He kept talking about it over and over, and I just let him go without thinking. I should've never let him get on that boat with the Joneses."

Emma sighed. "We should be thankful he was on the boat with them and not someone else. They know how to handle something like this. Let's just give them the benefit of the doubt."

"Oh, of course, _you_ want to believe them since that's your boyfriend. You'll believe in him, but you still won't believe in the curse."

"The what?"

The women turned to see David standing on the dock staring at them. "It's nothing," Emma muttered.

The Jewel was thankfully close by now, so close that Liam was able to throw some ropes from the deck with his good arm, which David caught to quickly help tie the boat up. It was Emma who was the first to finally get up on the deck, finding Henry passed out of the back bench by the wheel where Killian had been perched.

"Help my brother off," he directed her. "I have Henry."

Without thinking, Emma did as she was told, giving Liam a healthy body to lean on as she helped him off the deck. Once they got down, however, her first concern was Henry. Regina was staring back at the sailboat, and Emma followed her line of sight to see Killian with Henry bundled up in his arms, wavering a bit under the heavy weight of the boy, but still holding him strong. He pushed his way past Emma, intent to continue on as the group made its way up the dock to the ambulance that was now waiting there for them.

Killian dropped Henry on the stretcher and let the EMTs work. Then he grabbed Regina's hand to help her up, followed by Emma.

"Swan? I never meant for this to happen," he said, staring up at her from her perch in the ambulance.

"You did what you could to help him," she said. "We'll take care of him."

The doors were closed and Emma looked back at Killian, standing there with David and his injured brother, looking small and helpless and nothing like the Killian she knew.

She wished Regina was right. She wished this was just a curse that needed a little magic to fix everything. But in this moment with Henry, it was going to be even harder to convince herself that magic was real.

xxx xxx xxx

The quiet bothered Emma the most. It was too damn quiet in the hospital. The sun's light faded, replaced by darkness outsite the window. Storybrooke was going to sleep, and Henry was still unconscious.

She stared down at her son in his bed, reaching up to brush some stray hair from his forehead. It was all she could do to keep calm, especially considering that Regina insisted on pacing back and forth in the room. She tried telling the mayor to sit down and stop walking all over the place, but Regina was full of nervous energy. Her stillness would only last a minute or two before she was back up again.

And so it went for hours - Emma had frankly lost track of exactly how long it had been. It was only when she heard a knock that she even looked up at the clock above the door. Then she saw Killian, a strained look on his face.

"I hope I'm not interrupting," he said meekly. "I just wanted to check on Henry."

Emma looked over at Regina, who gave her a slight nod. She rose from her chair and walked over to Killian, gently directing him into the hallway away from Henry's room.

"Hey," he said quietly.

"Hi."

Killian swallowed and stared at her. "So, how is he?"

Emma gave him a reassuring nod. "He's going to be fine. The doctors said he has a concussion so it's just a matter of letting him get some sleep tonight."

Killian bit his lip and scratched behind his ear the way he always did when he was nervous. "Swan, I-"

She held her hand up and put it gently on his chest. "Don't," she whispered. "Just… You don't have to say anything. David told us about your conversation. We know it wasn't your fault, and you did everything you could to get Henry home safe."

"We just feel awful, Emma," he said, his shoulders slumping down. "If Liam or I had known that could've happened, we never would've left the harbor. It was just all so sudden."

Emma nodded, trying to reassure herself and Killian that this was just a fluke. David described it as a rogue wave - some strange phenomenon in which a random wave shows up in the middle of calm seas with no explanation. There was nothing any of them could've done to avoid it.

"How's Liam?"

Killian gave her a tight smile. "He's going to be OK," he said reassuringly. "He broke his arm so it's nothing a cast won't fix in a few weeks. I'm going to take him back to our place if that's OK."

"Yea, of course."

"He's more of a lumbering oaf than usual," he said with a teasing smile. "I don't know if Ruby could help him."

"I think it'll be good to have you close to him. And one of you can use my bed."

He gave her a concerned look. "You're not coming home?"

"I want to stay."

His eyes looked over at Henry, still resting peacefully on the other side of the glass. "Well, I'll let you get back to your boy."

Killian started to turn and leave, but Emma's hand grabbed for his arm. She pulled herself closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I'm glad you're all OK," she said. "And I'm glad Henry had you to take care of him."

Killian's arm tightened around her waist, his head nestling into the crook of her neck. He didn't need to words to tell her how he felt in that moment. She didn't need him to say anything to know that there was no doubt that he would do anything he could to protect her and Henry.

"Call me if you need anything," Killian whispered in her ear.

She nodded, and kissed his cheek tenderly. Then she gave him a smile and pulled away. But when she turned to walk away from him, he wouldn't let go of her hand, keeping her from moving any farther.

He looked down at their intertwined hands. "I love you, Emma." His eyes came up and met hers, warm and inviting again.

"I love you, too." She gave him a weak smile and gently let her fingers slip from his.

Henry's room was a little darker when she returned. Regina had turned off the ceiling light so only a warm glow came from a light near Henry's bed. Their son still slept peacefully.

"What did Killian say?" Regina asked from her spot next to Henry's bed without taking her eyes off of her son.

"He asked how Henry was doing," she replied. "And Liam is going to be alright. He just has a broken arm."

Regina caressed Henry's hand, her fingers rubbing across his palm. "You know this is their fault."

Emma could feel her cheeks get warm as the anger started to rise in her. "What are you talking about?" she said through gritted teeth. "This wasn't their fault."

Regina turned to stare at her. "It was their fault," she replied bitterly. "And it was your fault too."

"How the hell-" She stopped and took a breath, trying to get some control of her voice. "How is this my fault?"

"Do you know where they were?" Regina stood up, letting Henry's hand slip from hers. "They were at the town limit out on the water. That wave wasn't an accident. It was the curse keeping them here."

Emma stared at her, confused about what Regina was trying to tell her. "So you're saying they purposely went to the limit of the town knowing they would be forcibly turned back like that?" she said. "That makes no sense. It was a rogue wave. They had no control over that."

"They didn't do it on purpose, but think about it," the mayor said. "A wave comes out of nowhere to prevent them from leaving the town limit. Seems convenient, doesn't it?"

Regina stalked over to the small table in the corner of the room and grabbed the wallet out of her purse. "I'm going to the vending machine." She looked up and stared at Emma. "You have the power to break this curse. You always have. Now start believing in it before Henry gets hurt again."

She stomped off in a huff, leaving Emma alone in the quiet room with a sleeping Henry. All she had to do was believe to get him better? That was easier said than done.

Emma went back to her chair next to Henry's bed and sat down, pulling his still hand into hers. If there was a way for her to get him better, she would do it. She would believe anything to make this right for him. But she would have to push past that last bit that was holding her back. She would HAVE to believe.


	14. Chapter 14

Henry's hospital room began to light up as the sun rose, waking Emma from her spot next to his bed. Her back ached and her neck hurt from being slumped over in the chair all night, making sure she was still close enough to hold her son's hand while he slept.

Emma sat up and looked around. The hospital was practically deserted at this hour, and the only other person she could see was Regina, who had curled up on the couch in Henry's room to get some sleep.

And then there was Henry, who was still unconscious after the hit to his head the day before on Liam Jones' boat. Or ship. Or whatever Henry would tell her because the term she had chosen was the wrong one.

She gently brushed the hair away from his forehead as the light from the window crept towards his face. He seemed so peaceful like this, and she couldn't help but smile at the precocious kid who brought her to this magical small town in Maine. So many things had changed since she arrived, so many people she had met.

Emma moved close enough to Henry that she could count every eyelash, see every freckle. She was his mother and friend. She knew he would wake up soon and be better. She knew he would shake this off and be back on the water in no time.

She believed in him. And without thinking of what she was doing, she instinctively leaned over and kissed his forehead.

The wave of magic hit her square in the chest, making her stumble over the chair behind her. Outside, she could see the flash pushing its way over the streets and the shops, over the harbor.

And then she remembered it all. She remembered standing in the middle of the street, trying to stop Gold's curse as it rolled through the forest into the town. She remembered Killian and Liam and the Underworld.

She remembered she was the Savior. She was the one who had saved this town from a curse and a wicked witch and a snow monster and Peter Pan and Cruella and all the other things that had tried to do it harm.

She remembered her family! She had parents and a baby brother and friends who loved her. And she had Killian. Even before this latest curse, even before she started kissing her new roommate, even before all of that, she had Killian.

Emma finally got ahold of her emotions long enough to look back at Henry, who was now sitting up in his hospital bed and smiling at her. Regina was standing next to his bedside, holding his hand while staring at Emma with shock and awe.

Henry gazed at her as if this was exactly what he had expected would happen. "I told you, mom," he said with a big smile. "You're our Savior."

xxx xxx xxx

The hospital room was filled with voices and commotion, and Emma didn't care because it was filled with love.

Regina had been standing quietly next to her, taking it all in with a smile on her face. "So I guess you finally decided to think you were the savior."

"Actually, I wasn't thinking at all," Emma said. "Maybe I overthought this whole believer thing."

"That makes sense, you know. Your magic always seems to be rooted in feeling, not thought." Regina gave her a smile. "In some ways, our magic is alike, and in some ways, it's very different."

Emma couldn't help but return the mayor's smile before taking another look at her son, who was bright-eyed and alert. It was a remarkable - and definitely a magical - change from the day before.

David and Mary Margaret - Emma's parents! - were standing by their grandson's bed asking him about the past few months and how he had found the storybook this time. Baby Neal was tucked away in his car seat in the corner, oblivious to all the noise. Robin sat on the little couch with his son Roland as the young boy chatted excitedly about being able to camp out in the forest again. It was nice to have her family back together after another curse.

But her family was missing someone.

"Mom?" Henry stared down at blue Jell-O from the hospital's cafeteria with a serious look. "Where are Killian and Liam?"

"Oh, they're OK, Henry. Don't worry," she said reassuringly. "Liam just has a broken arm. He's going to be fine."

But she wasn't totally reassured. She would've expected Killian to be here by now, and the fact that he wasn't made her think something was still wrong. And there was something else seemed to be bothering her son.

"Henry, what's the matter?" Regina asked.

"I told them I wanted to go out farther," he murmured. "It was my fault we got hit by that wave."

Henry's mothers exchanged a look of understanding. "It wasn't your fault," Regina said, tucking her son's hair behind his ear. "You didn't know, and they didn't know."

Henry just nodded, but Emma could tell he didn't believe her reassuring words.

"You know, I have to go home anyway now that this whole curse is over," Emma explained. "So I'll check on Killian and Liam and see if they can stop by later to say hi."

The kid looked up, a smile breaking across his face. "Can you do that?"

"Sure!" she said. "I'll head out now and be back soon, OK?"

Mary Margaret grabbed her hand and squeezed it tight before her father gave her one of his trademark hugs, cradling her head as he pulled her closer. She had missed that.

But now that Emma had walked out of hospital, she was finally able to start thinking about what had happened - and what it could mean once she got home.

They brought Liam back with them from the Underworld, but did the curse take him away from his brother again? What kind of mental and physical state would he be in?

And what about Killian? He had been dead, and they went down to the Underworld to bring him back. But what kind of mental state would he be in now that the curse had been lifted?

One question she hadn't considered - and wouldn't - was whether he still wanted her. She just knew he did, and she knew she wanted him too. Even with the new curse, even with everyone forgetting who they were, somehow Emma and Killian had found each other - again. Emma smiled, her steps getting a little quicker as she got close to the apartment. Because no matter what was waiting for her there, no matter what new problems had arisen from the curse being broken, she knew that Killian was there and they would get through this next challenge together.

Emma quickly took the stairs up to the apartment and flung the door open.

"Killian?"

There was no response, and she started to worry that maybe he wasn't there after all. Had he gone to the hospital looking for her? Was he down at the dock or somewhere with Liam? She put her keys down on the counter and started walking around the apartment to see if he was still there.

He was. She found Killian sitting on the floor in the hallway with his back to the wall outside his bedroom. His head was down and he seemed completely oblivious to everything around him, including her.

Maybe things wouldn't be as easy as she thought. "Killian?" she said apprehensively.

His head jerked up and a smile spread across his face. He quickly jumped up from his spot on the floor and took determined steps to reach her at the end of the hallway. His lips burned with passion as they met hers, and she was more than happy to kiss him back. She missed this. She enjoyed kissing her roommate and her new friend, of course. But there was something different when it was Captain Hook or Killian Jones the pirate or whatever. There was just something different about kissing the man she had shared so many adventures with. There was a history that she didn't share with her roommate but with her pirate, and it was a history that made this particular kiss just so much better.

He pulled away slightly, his hands still on her cheeks, his forehead still pressed against hers, as his blue eyes stared at her.

"Swan, you did it again," he said quietly. "You saved us again."

Emma smiled. "Well, I am the savior," she said teasingly.

He didn't smile back, his face actually falling a bit as he pulled away to look at her.

"How's Henry?" he asked seriously.

"He's fine," she replied. "He's going to be fine."

He nodded slightly. "So how did you break the curse?"

"I just had to kiss him."

Killian's face looked confused. "I thought you tried that already."

"I guess I had to believe in magic," she said. "Regina said my magic is rooted in feelings, not thoughts. I just overthought it all."

"Well, that does sound like you," he said with a smirk.

Emma smiled, then took a longer look at him, finally able to see her pirate again. He was wearing a white t-shirt and blue jeans, not his usual black ensemble that she now realized how much she missed. And she missed all the jewelry he used to wear, especially the rings on his hands. Strangely enough, he still had both of them.

Emma reached for his left hand, feeling the warmth of it on her skin. "I wonder why Gold's curse gave you your hand back, and then that you got to keep it."

"I don't think that was Gold's curse. I think that was you."

"Me?" she asked.

He smiled warmly down on her. "You were the one who made our lives better, even when we were cursed. Who gave us the chance to be the best versions of ourselves, not the worst."

"I still think I'm going to miss the hook a little bit," she said quietly. "Are you happy it's back?"

Killian shrugged. "I guess. I don't know if I earned it, but I'll adjust."

She looked up at him and smiled. "You earned it awhile ago when you became a hero."

"A hero?" he asked. "I don't think Henry would say I'm a hero."

"Then you don't know Henry. He was worried about the two of you." She began to look around the apartment, realizing that she still hadn't seen the brother Jones since she arrived. "Is Liam here?"

"Aye," he said quietly.

"But something is wrong."

Killian pulled her down the hallway, away from his closed bedroom door, and into the living room.

"Liam…." His voice trailed off and he had to take a breath before he could continue. "Liam is having some issues with the curse being broken. Well, one issue in particular."

"What's that?"

"Ruby."

Emma looked at him in confusion. "What about Ruby?"

"Liam is a bit heartbroken I guess. He loves Ruby, or he did, but that was because of the curse," he explained. "I think Liam doesn't know what to do now since his relationship seemed to just be part of the curse and wasn't real."

Emma nodded solemnly. "I've been there."

Killian's eyes narrowed. "What?"

"Walsh."

He couldn't help but laugh. "Last time I checked, Ruby wasn't a flying monkey, Swan."

"No, but I fell in love with Walsh after a curse erased my memories. Sound familiar?"

Killian's face grew serious and he nodded solemnly. "I remember."

"My memories weren't real, but my time with Henry and Walsh during that curse was. And Liam's time with Ruby these past few months was real too."

Killian reached for her hand, his fingers entwining themselves in her own. "Do you think you can talk to him?"

"I-"

A knock on the door interrupted her, and Killian slowly let go of her hand to answer it.

Ruby was standing in the doorway, her dark red cloak around her shoulders. "Hi, Killian," she said quietly. "I'm looking for Liam. Is he still here?"

"Aye."

She walked into the apartment looking more miserable than Emma had ever seen her before. That is, until she spotted Emma. A smile broke out on her face and she quickly walked over and pulled her friend into a hug.

"You did it!" she said, pulled her tighter.

"Again," Emma said quietly.

Ruby pulled away and looked at her. "Well, thank you - again - for saving the town," she said. "Granny decided to have a party tonight at the diner, and she's expecting you to be there."

"Of course."

Ruby turned to Killian, her smile still there. "She's expecting you as well. And Liam too."

"Thank you, Red."

Ruby's eyes began to dart around the apartment, looking for her boyfriend - or whatever he was to her now considering the curse. "Where's Liam?"

"My room. Just down the hall." Killian motioned in the direction of his room, only to stop Ruby by gently grabbing her arm before she went any farther. "I honestly don't know the man you're going to find behind that door, Red."

She gave him a forced smile. "It's OK," she said quietly. "Whatever happens, it will be OK."

They watched as she walked away, and could hear her gently knocking on the bedroom door before opening it and closing it behind her.

"I hope he lets her in," Killian said. "I mean, not the bedroom, but you know."

Emma smiled at him. "I know."

"And I know things have been… different between us-"

"But they were still the same." She walked over and snaked her arms around his neck, pulling herself closer to him. "No matter what curse or what realm or what obstacle, you still found you."

He leaned down and gently kissed her lips. "I will always find you, Swan."


	15. Chapter 15

Sunlight filtered through Killian's bedroom windows, waking Emma up from a deep slumber. The party the night before lasted a bit longer than they had expected, but there was no way they would've left early.

Besides, today was a new day with more excitement ahead. Emma stretched out under the arm slung over her waist, heavy and warm. Her fingers traced the new tattoo on Killian's forearm - the outline of a single swan under the one with Milah's name - and she couldn't help but smile. She had no problem with Killian keeping the old tattoo. After all, Emma met Milah and liked her. It seemed Killian had a type: strong women with stubborn minds of their own. So when he asked her if she would like him to cover up that old tattoo, Emma simply said no. If anything, she felt like she was in good company.

But she had to stop procrastinating. She had places to be and things to do. Emma pushed off the covers and started to get up, but Killian's arm tightened around her and pulled her back.

"Yur swaying hur."

"What was that, captain?"

Killian lifted his head out of his pillow and gave her a smile that radiated warmth even if he still wouldn't open his eyes. "I said, you're staying here."

"I am not," she said, deftly pulling herself out of his grasp. "And neither are you. We have to get moving."

She heard a groan from the bed in response before Killian starting throwing off his blankets. "I love my brother, I do, but why do we have to do all of this for him?"

"Because he did all of this for us." Emma walked over and kissed him gently on the forehead. "Now come on, Captain Jones. You have a wedding to preside over."

He looked up and gave her a warm smile. "Yes, Mrs. Jones," he replied, pulling her closer to kiss her gently.

"Mom! Are you going to take a shower or not?"

Emma rolled her eyes and sighed. "When did Henry become such a teenage boy?"

"Give the lad a break," Killian said. "It's a big day for him too."

"I'm so glad there are only two Jones boys. I couldn't handle Henry being a groomsman in another one after today."

Her husband just shrugged. "It probably doesn't help that Violet is going to be there."

"Don't remind me," Emma grumbled as she grabbed her robe and headed for the bathroom to stop Henry from yelling again.

xxx xxx xxx

The weather was perfect for a late summer wedding, and the Jolly Roger was spectacular with strings of lights hanging from the masts and a band on the deck playing music. Tables with red flowers in silver vases stood at another end for people to drink and eat and celebrate the wedding of Liam Jones and his lovely bride, the new Ruby Jones.

A few people came up to compliment Killian on officiating the wedding, and Emma couldn't help feeling her pride swell. Killian Jones was the captain of the Jolly Roger, after all, so it was only fitting that the captain would have the honor to preside over such a beautiful ceremony on the deck of his ship, and he really had done a wonderful job.

Emma also appreciated his attire for the day. Sure, Killian was becoming a more modern man in Storybrooke, but there was something special about seeing him up there in his traditional pirate coat, black shirt and leather pants. He had paired the outfit with his red leather vest as a nod to the bride's decision to have as much red as possible at her wedding. It didn't hurt that Emma found the red vest particularly attractive on him.

"Staring again, Swan?"

Emma broke out of her thoughts to realize that she had indeed been ogling Killian from across the deck of his ship. He had already caught her three times tonight.

"I can't help it if I get distracted by dashing rapscallions."

"Then I hope there are no other pirates distracting you tonight," he said as he stepped closer.

"You're the only one here." She leaned close, her mood changing as she brushed her lips against his. "And you only belong to me."

"I can never forget it, love," he murmured.

As the band began to play another song, Killian simply smiled and grabbed Emma's hand, pulling her towards the part of the deck that had been cleared off to serve as a makeshift dance floor. There was no way she was going to object, especially after he gave her a little spin and pulled her closer.

"I don't think this is a slow song, Killian," she teased.

"It's not a fast song either, and you have a partner who knows what he's doing."

Emma swallowed the lump in her throat. "That I do, Captain."

The pair swayed to the song, Killian's body warm against Emma as the music barely filtered into her ears over her own loud heartbeat. Then the band took its cue and switched to something a little more quiet and romantic. A few people left the dance floor only to be replaced by Emma's adoring parents with Henry and Violet a bit farther in the corner.

"Now, now, Swan," Killian said quietly. "Stop scowling at the young couple over there."

"I wasn't scowling."

Killian shook his head and spun Emma around so she would have her back to Henry and his crush. "You aren't the only one who can detect when someone is lying, Emma."

"I'm not lying," she protested, eliciting a silent raised eyebrow from her dance partner. "Fine, I may have been scowling a little," Emma admitted.

Her husband simply leaned over with a smile on his face and kissed her. She wouldn't mind him calling her out if it meant she would be rewarded like this with his warm lips soft against hers. He finally pulled away from her, his eyes drifting to a spot over her shoulder, and Emma followed his line of sight to see what was distracting him.

"They're a lovely couple, aren't they?" Killian murmured.

The two of them watched Liam and Ruby as they danced together as husband and wife with big smiles on their faces. "They really are," Emma said wistfully.

"I'm so glad you brought us back, Emma. Both of us."

She turned to see the intensity in his eyes, and she knew he truly did mean what he said. "I couldn't have brought you back from the Underworld without bringing your brother as well."

Killian leaned over and kissed her again. "And I will always be thankful for you, Swan, for so many reasons."

Emma looked up and smiled mischievously at her husband. "Is anyone in the captain's quarters right now?"

"No," he replied apprehensively.

"I'll give you one more reason to be thankful for me if you would like."

An intense darkness seemed to wash over Killian's eyes as he figured out what she meant, before letting his left fingers intertwine with hers. "Oh, I would like that very much, Mrs. Jones."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it! Thank you all so much for the kudos and comments. I hope you like how this story ended! And if you want to get more updates for both my fanfic and original fiction, follow me on tumber at athenascarlet. Thank you all!!!!!!!


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